SHORT-NOSED, AND TUBE-NOSED FRUIT-BATS 259 



regions of the western side of the continent, especially the Gabun district. It is 

 here that we meet with that most remarkable species discovered by Du Chaillu, 

 known as the hammer-headed bat (Epomophorus monstrosus) , which differs from the 

 rest in the absence of shoulder-tufts in the males. The head in that sex has an 

 enormous muzzle, furnished with a kind of shield-like expansion in front, communi- 

 cating a most repulsive and hideous expression to the whole face, which reminds 

 one of a very ugly caricature of the head of a mule. Sir John Kirk tells us that 

 the epauletted fruit-bats subsist largely on figs, and Dr. Dobson remarks that their 

 voluminous and capacious lips are admirably adapted to retain and swallow without 

 loss the juicy contents of these and other soft fruits during the process of mastica- 

 tion. 



THE SHORT-NOSED FRUIT-BATS 

 Genus Cynopterus 



The short-nosed fruit-bats comprise several species almost exclusively confined 

 to the Oriental region (that is to say, ranging from India to the Malayan islands), 

 and readily distinguished from the fox-bats by their short and rounded muzzles, 

 marked by a shallow vertical groove, and their small size. The teeth are, moreover, 

 somewhat less numerous than in the latter, being usually thirty-two, but occasion- 

 ally, owing to the absence of one pair of lower incisors, only thirty. They have 

 generally a short tail, with the same relations to the membrane between the legs as 

 in the tailed fox-bats. 



The common short-nosed fruit-bat (Cynopterus marginatus), ranging from 

 India to the Philippine islands, is one of the best-known forms, and is remarkable 

 for its extreme voracity. It is very common throughout India, where it generally 

 inhabits trees, especially the palmyra palm, but is occasionally found in caverns 

 and crevices of rocks. This bat is very destructive to fruit, being especially fond of 

 plantains and mangoes. As an instance of its voracity, it may be mentioned that 

 an individual, of which the weight when killed some hours after the feast was 

 only one ounce, consumed two and a half ounces of plantains within a period of 

 three hours. It has been observed that the flight of this species is much lighter 

 than that of the fox-bats, although the general habits of the two groups are very 

 similar. 



THE TUBE-NOSED FRUIT- BATS 

 Genus Harpyia 



Two curious bats, differing from one another considerably in size, and found 

 from Celebes to New Guinea, North Australia, and New Ireland, are distinguished 

 from the short-nosed fruit-bats by their still shorter and more rounded muzzles, 

 but more especially by the production of the nostrils into a pair of long diverging 



