38 GREAT BAT OF MADAGASCAR AND VAMPIRE BAT, 



these regions a flight of bats is sufficient to obscure the 

 setting sun ; and in the morning they are seen sticking 

 and fluttering on the tops of trees, like a swarm of bees. 



GREAT BAT OF MADAGASCAR. 



Buffon gives the appellation of the rousette to this for- 

 midable animal ; which is nearly four feet broad when its 

 wings are expanded, and about one foot long. It is a 

 native of Guinea, Madagascar, and (according to captain 

 Cook) of most of the newly-discovered islands in the 

 South Sea. 



These bats assemble in prodigious numbers ; sometimes 

 by day (when they darken the air) as well as by night ; 

 and indiscriminately devour the fruits of the earth, animal 

 flesh, or whatever they can seize. Scarcely any thing is 

 secure from their depredations : and it is very probable, 

 as Buffon remarks, that the ancients borrowed their ideas 

 of harpies from these fierce and voracious creatures ; for, 

 like those fabled beings, they are deformed, greedy, un- 

 cleanly, and cruel. They make a frightful noise in the 

 forests during the night; but at the approach of day 

 generally seek for quiet and concealment. 



They are believed to be extremely fond of human 

 blood, which they suck from persons when asleep. It is 

 not unlikely, indeed, that all bats have a partiality for 

 this kind of nourishment ; but the following species seems 

 to be the most dexterous and terrible in this respect. 



VAMPIRE, OR SPECTRE BAT. 



Though this animal is less formidable in its appearance, 

 it is much more mischievous than the preceding. It is a 

 native of South America, where it lives in the palm-trees ; 

 and, according to Ulloa, leaves its retreat towards the 

 close of the day, and covers the towns and cities in count- 

 less multitudes, like a lofty and extensive canopy. It is 

 then the common pest of men and animals ; destroying 

 every thing that has life, which it finds asleep and exposed 

 to the air, 



