78 PTEROPUS. 
shorter than the index finger. Wing-membrane from the sides 
of the back and the back of the first phalanx of the second toe. 
Tail none. Fur of the nape of the neck and shoulders differing 
conspicuously from that of the back. Molars well developed. 
Dentition.—I. 4, C. 3, P. 3, M. 5 = 34. 
1—V 
Note.—The Pteropine Bats form one of the greatest pests with 
which orchardists have to contend, the amount of injury done in 
a single night by a flock of these animals being almost incalculable, 
and, so far as I am aware, no feasible proposal has as yet been 
put forward either for their destruction or for the protection of 
the orchards from their ravages. They live in enormous com- 
munities, choosing for their resting places the most inaccessible 
parts of dense scrubs and gullies, from whence they sally forth in 
flocks towards sunset and return about the break of day, traversing 
frequently in the interval great distances in their search for food. 
As an instance of their powers of locomotion Dr. Ramsay ( Proce. 
Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, ii. p. 8, 1877) mentions, speaking of Pterepus 
gouldi, that they habitually cross at dusk from the mainland to 
the islands in Torres’ Straits returning in the early morning to 
the scrubs. He also states that during the month of August 
many of the females had young of considerable size attached to 
the teats. Of Pteropus conspicillatus Mr. John Macgillivray says 
that, on apparently the only occasion on which he met with them, 
prodigious numbers were flying about in the bright sunshine. All 
these Bats havea most disagreeable musky odor, and the stench in 
and about the neighborhood of their rookeries, arising from the 
accumulation of their foeces and from the putrefying young, is 
said, in an old camp, to be almost unbearable. In these camps 
they may be seen by thousands on each tree, hanging head down- 
wards, quarreling for the best places, keeping up all the while an 
incessant chattering or bickering infer se; and so great are their 
numbers that frequently large branches are broken off by the 
mere weight of the clinging Bats. 
1. Preropus POLIOCEPHALUS, 7'emminck (1827). 
Gray-headed Flying-F'ox. 
Size large. Ears much longer than the muzzle; the upper 
third of the conch narrow and subacutely pointed; the backs 
finely hairy. Interfemoral membrane very narrow in the middle 
and concealed by the fur. Fur everywhere long and dense, ex- 
tending on both sides of the legs above to the ankles, below to 
the ends of the tibize ; on the back directed backwards and slightly 
adpressed, quite three inches wide across the loins, and nearly 
two inches wide behind the elbow ; on the legs and rump woolly ; 
the membrane between the humerus and thigh hairy. Fur of the 
head gray with a yellowish tinge; neck, shoulders, and anterior 
