TAILED FOX-BATS- -EPAULETTED FRUIT-BATS 257 



plentiful. It is probably only those specially driven by hunger that come out before 

 dark." These observations show that two of these bats are, at certain seasons, in 

 the habit of supplementing the ordinary fruit-diet by one of flowers ; but it does 

 not appear that a similar habit has been recorded in the case of the Indian or 

 Malayan species. It has, however, been observed that the Indian fruit-bat will 

 greedily drink palm- juice from the pots hung on the trees for the purpose of col- 

 lecting it ; and individuals have been found lying at the foot of the trees in a help- 

 lessly intoxicated condition. 



THE TAILED FOX-BATS 

 Genus Xantharpyia 



Closely allied to the common fox-bats are the tailed fox-bats, which are repre- 

 sented by a comparatively small number of species, ranging from India, Burma, and 

 the Malayan islands to the Persian Gulf, Palestine, Africa, and Madagascar. They 

 are distinguished from all the members of the genus Pteropus by the presence of a 

 short tail, which is connected with the membrane between the legs, and likewise by 

 their inferior size and less brilliant coloration, as well as by the fur on the back of 

 the neck being no longer than that on the body. The collared tailed fox-bat (X. 

 collaris) is represented in the accompanying illustration. 



Many of these fox-bats, instead of living in trees, inhabit caves or deserted 

 buildings ; one species being found in numbers in the chambers of the Great Pyramid 

 in Egypt, as well as in old buildings in Palestine ; while a second was observed by 

 Mr. Blanford inhabiting caves excavated in rock salt in Kishm island, in the Persian 

 gulf. Dr. Dobson is of opinion that different individuals of a single species of these 

 bats may inhabit either caves or trees ; and he further believes that those dwelling 

 in caves may be distinguished from those habitually frequenting trees by their 

 shorter fur. L,ike most other members of the family, these bats will travel long dis- 

 tances in their daily journeys for food ; and it was at one time supposed that in 

 Nipal they flew between thirty and forty miles out and home. This enormous dis- 

 tance has, however, been shown to be incorrect ; the length of the daily journey 

 really being about sixteen miles each way. 



THE EPAULETTED FRUIT-BATS 

 Genus Epomophorus 



A striking contrast to the neat and sharp-muzzled heads of the fox-bats is 

 presented by a small group of African species known as the epauletted fruit-bats, 

 so named from the tufts of hair surmounting the shoulders of the males. These 

 bats have fewer teeth than the fox-bats, the total number being only twenty-six 

 or twenty-eight. They are readily distinguished by their remarkably large and 

 17 



