BATS OF THE BELGIAN CONGO 



559 



the soarcli for rarer animals even more 

 than the cordial and kind assistance we 

 received from the officials whom we had 

 the good fortune to meet occasionally. 

 And as for bats, the lack of nu'at-])ro- 

 ducing herds of cattle— 

 with dogs and chickens 

 only as a meager substi- 

 tute and with cannibalism 

 vi rtually abol i shed — had 

 developed in these Congo- 

 lese negroes a keen inter- 

 est in the haunts of this 

 odd source of food supply. 

 They are a more satisfac- 

 tory food than grasshop- 

 pers or caterpillars. The 

 smaller species, inhabiting 

 hollow trees, rocky clefts. 

 or caves, are. on account 

 of their great numbers, as 

 welcome as the larger 

 fruit b.":^s. The native says 

 the former live together in 

 "bat villages." and if he 

 finds fruit bats hooked to- 

 gether in clusters he be- 

 lieves they assemble so as 

 not to get wet from the 

 daily rain, and he is quite 

 amused that the younger 

 ones, having to cling out- 

 side, complain and scold 

 continually. Many others 

 hang about singlv or in 

 pairs and sleep in the 

 daytime, yet no matter 

 how cautiously approached, 

 the finely chiseled snout 

 quickly emerges from its 

 restful pose between the soft 

 folds of the dark wings, and 

 the twitching ears and 

 twinklingeyes seek to gather 

 information about the dis- 

 turbance. The negroes often 

 succeed, nevertheless, in 

 shootinga few fruit bats just 

 before they take wing, and 

 conclude that all of them 

 are blind during the day. 



Alilnmgh liardly any species is re- 

 jected as too small, the mastiff bats, 

 forming large colonies, contribute much 

 to tlie fame of bats as delicacies. The 

 natives consider disau'reeable odor an 



Deep in the gloom of the tropical ruin forests of the Congo 

 tower giant dead trees. These often shelter great and mys- 

 terious bat "cities." From their dark labyrinths bats may be 

 seen to fly out every evening — only to disappear instantly behind 

 the veil of the damp equatorial atmosphere. The natives often 

 set fire to these dead trees, and take home basketfuls of what 

 they call delicious fat "birds" to be consumed as delicacies 



