164 



THE MALAY PROVINCE 



and Andamans. The small long-tongued fruit-bat (Carponycteris or Macroglossus 

 minimus), which ranges from northern India to Australia and the Bismarck Archi- 

 pelago, is remarkable on account of its diminutive size, its length being only 2| 

 inches. Perhaps the most remarkable of the numerous forms of insect-eating 

 bats inhabiting the tract under consideration is the naked bat (Chiromeles 

 torquatus), which has almost completely bare skin. As the young would be 

 unable to obtain any hold on a surface of this nature, this bat is provided 

 with large pouches on the under surface of the body, in which its offspring 





d/r^^-^^ir 4 ' -^ 







SLOW LORIS. 



. 



Moles. 



are carried about in safety. This bat inhabits the Malay Peninsula and 

 Islands. 



Among the Insectivora, in which the tract is fairly rich, the 

 short-tailed mole (Talpa micrura) is particularly common in Nepal 

 and Sikhim, as well as on the mountains of Assam. To some extent it differs in 

 habits from the European mole, as it does not throw up hillocks of earth. Its 

 eyes are covered with skin, and it derives its name from the shortness of its tail, 

 which is almost bare and completely hidden in the fur. It is of a velvet-black 

 colour, with a more or less distinct silvery gloss, and in length measures about 

 ■ih inches. 



