266 PTEfiOPODID^E. 



Ears rather longer than from the eye to the nostril, naked, 

 rounded at the end, the outer margin with a small 

 pointed basal lobe. Nostrils not prominent. Lower 

 jaw projecting slightly beyond the upper. Eyes 

 large. Interorbital membrane very narrow. Eur 

 long. 



Colour light brown, more or less rufous above, 

 rather paler and greyer below. 



"<* *$ Dimensions of an adult female : head and body 2*3 



inclies ' ear ' 6 ' iorearm I' 35 - A skull measures 



mma 

 ^ 



(Dobs'onMon! ~^'<* * n *^ l en gth and O6 in zygomatic breadth, 

 As. Chir'.) This is the smallest of all known fruit-bats. 



Distribution. Common in the warm valleys of 

 Sikhim and extending thence through Burma to the Malay Archi- 

 pelago and North and "West Australia. 



Habits. This small fruit-bat remains suspended to branches of 

 trees during the day, and is occasionally found in old houses and 

 sheds. It fives on fruit of every description. 



Genus EONYCTERIS, Dobson (1873). 



Muzzle long ; nostrils not projecting, a shallow furrow between 

 them, and a narrow vertical groove across the middle of the upper 

 lip, which is naked throughout the area below the nostrils and the 

 space between them. Index finger without a claw ; rnetacarpal bone 

 of the middle finger as long as the index finger. Wing from the 

 side of the hairy back and from the base of the first toe. Tail 

 short, distinct, the base contained in the narrow interfemoral mem- 

 brane. Tongue very long and armed with long recurved papillae. 



Dentition : i. |, c. J, pm. ^~, m. ~ y Eirst upper prernolar 

 minute. Incisors small, subdistant, and molars small, scarcely 

 elevated above the gum, as in Carponycteris. 



A single species is known. 



144. Eonycteris spelaea. Dobson's long-tongued Fruit-Bat. 



Macroglossus spelseus, Dobson, J. A. S. B. xl, pt. 2, p. 261, pi. x, 

 figs. 3, 4 (1871), xli, p. 334. 



Eonycteris spelsea, Dobson, J. A. S. B. xlii, pt. 2, p. 204, pi. xiv, 

 fig. 10 (ear) ; id. Mon. As. Chir. p. 33 ; id. Cat. Chir. B. M. p. 94 j 

 Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 15 ; Anderson, Cat. p. 106. 



Ears moderately large, the tips but little rounded, a small pro- 

 jecting basal lobe to the outer margin. Thumb short, the base 

 of the terminal phalanx included in the membrane. Eur short 

 and thin. On each side of the anal orifice and a little behind 

 it is a small subcutaneous glandular body. The tongue can be 

 drawn nearly half an inch from the mouth in spirit specimens ; 

 the papillae near the tip are very long. 



Colour dark brown throughout, the lower portions sometimes 

 a little paler. 



