6 



the breast, much in the way a monkey does, this habit may have 

 given rise to the idea mentioned by Jerdon at page 15, in the 

 account of the last species " tardigradus," that they sleep head 

 downwards. The following extract from " Doctor John Fryer's 

 " voyage to East India and Bombain," doubtless refers to this little 

 creature and is too good to be lost. The quaint old seaman seeing 

 them in this position and supposing that they " walk upright not 

 " pronely," probably took the length of the leg into account and 

 thus increased their size to " Half a Yard." 



" Woods are everywhere in which sometimes are met Inhabi- 

 " tants not yet mentioned, and for their Solitariness called Men of 

 " the Woods, or more truly Satyrs ; there are Neriads too, or Men 

 " of the Rivers, but dye as soon as taken ; A couple of the former 

 " I saw asleep, in the day-time, in the Night they Sport and Eat ; 

 " they were both in a Parrot Cage, they had Heads like an Owl, 

 " Bodied like a Monkey without Tails ; only the first Finger of the 

 " Right Hand was armed with a Claw like a Bird, otherwise they 

 " had Hands and Feet which they walk upright on, not pronely, as 

 " other Beasts do ; they were colored like a Fox of the length 

 " of Half a Yard ; though they grow bigger till Twelve Years old 

 " when they Copulate." 



The slight spice of the marvellous set aside, this description of 

 this very odd looking and, even now, very little known animal, is 

 almost perfect. The only sound I have ever heard one of these 

 lemurs utter was a faint whine, but I have been told by a brother 

 sportsman, that one which he saw captured among the Karanee 

 hills in Upper Burmah, uttered the nrost piercing yells ; it probably 

 was the last species " tardigradus." No. 10, page 14, of Jerdon. 



No. 5. Pteropus Edwardsi. 



JEEDON, No. 12, PAGE 18 ; FLYING Fox. 



Jerdon remarks that, before these bats fly off for their nightly 



rounds, they fly cautiously down and touch water if it is at hand, 



but, that he could not ascertain if they took a sip or merely dipped 



part of their bodies in. I have always fancied that they drink on 



these occasions, they certainly do not fish as has been sometimes 



supposed. They often turn in their flight and appear to hawk at, or 



