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77/ /i AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



when i^ti't'tehed out, assumes the. form 

 of a spoon. A triangular, rasplike set 

 of papillae, conveniently placed near the 

 tip, helps to gather pulp and juices. 

 The whole face in front of the orbits is 

 loose, and in its upper parts the chan- 

 nels icach as far back as the ear. These 

 and the lips function evidently as rnus- 

 cnlai- pouches to s(iueeze out the \m]p 

 of the fruits. The a\sophagus is so nar- 

 row that only juices can pass. This 

 fact offers an explanation for the great 

 ])atches of fresh i)ulp often found to- 

 gctlu-r with the remnants of spoiled 

 fruits underneath the l)0ughs that aj)- 

 pear to be used as their hal)itual dininu' 

 halls. 



These hammer-headed bats occur 

 singly or in small flocks, rarely exceed- 

 ing thirty, and are most frequently seen 

 sliortly after sunset when leisurely 

 Happing across the I'ivei's oi' open ex- 

 panses of water. We often observed 

 them. too. stealing ripe fruit in the 

 government jjosts. They are especially 

 fond of guavas, mangoes, and sour sops. 

 They take ripe bananas even from un- 

 derneath the roofs of houses where n:i- 

 ti\es have stored them. 



One of the epaulet bats (Ejiomojis 

 franqiieti franqueti) is also known for 

 its vocal efforts. Its calls, however. 

 sound more like musical whistles that 

 ring intermittently through the still- 

 ness of the night. Together with the 

 loud croak of the tree hyrax (Dendro- 

 lii/ni.r). these are the most typical noc- 

 turnal sounds in these forested re- 

 gions. Yet, to our great surprise, not 

 a single European knew that he was 

 listening to a bat. The high-pitched, 

 tirelessly reiterated note seems to b? 

 emitted by a bird rather than l)y a 

 mammal. Questioning natives is to 

 little purpose, for they consider bats to 

 be birds and will reply simply that it is 

 a bird of the night that eats fruit. 

 Here, too, only the males produce the 

 noise, but their vocal organs are en- 

 larged comparatively little. Their 

 popular name "epaulet bat" refers to a 



glandular pouch on each shoulder, lined 

 with stiff white hair, a distinction 

 marking only the adult males. 



The most frequent and greatest wan- 

 derer among African fruit bats is the 

 "roussette" {Eidolon lu'Iniiii), which, 

 unlike others, assembles in great num- 

 bers, sometimes completely covering 

 tn-es. At Avakubi a flock of perhaps 

 one hundred had taken shelter for the 

 day beneath the limb of a large tree, 

 where they were shaded by a mass of 

 epi])hytic ferns and orchids and formed 

 one great squirming mass. Ever and 

 again one seemed to lose its hold in the 

 crowd, took wing, and hooked itself 

 anew. All the Avhile they kept up a 

 chorus of snarling and scolding noises 

 that could be heard a hundred yards 

 away. 



According to our experience it is 

 their strongly developed sense of smell 

 that guides them to the fragrance of 

 ripened fi'uit which is generally hidden 

 lieneath the dense canopies; for, al- 

 though the l)at"s eyes are large, sight 

 alone could not lead to its discovery. 



Fruit bats cause no damage to na- 

 tive plantations in these West African 

 forests, as the negroes there do not 

 plant any indigenous fruit trees, ex- 

 cept the oil palm, the nuts of which 

 do not entice these little marauders. 

 Sweet ish. acididated. or juicy pulp is 

 their chief aim. and thus their tastes 

 coincide with those of the human race. 

 Their devastations really are restricted 

 to fruits of imported trees. But. of 

 course, as the seeds are dropped to the 

 ground, the bats unwittingly contribitte 

 to the distribution of valuable fruit 

 trees beyond the confines of the ]ilan- 

 tations, for, under the favorable influ- 

 ence of the moist climate, these seeds 

 readily sprout and grow into trees. 

 Since the larger species (Hypsignathus 

 monstrosus. Eidolon lielvuni, and Epo- 

 niops franqueti) habitually move fruits 

 as large as figs or guavas in fairly 

 great quantities, we can easily imag- 

 ine what an important role fruit bats 



