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THE MALAY PROVINCE 



Flying-Lemur. 



Still more remarkable are the flying-lemurs, or cobegos, of which 

 one species (Galeopitheciis volans) inhabits the Malay Peninsula, Java, 

 Sumatra, and Borneo, and a second the Philippines. These strange animals, 

 which fly by means of a parachute, are evidently related to the more typical 

 Insectivora, and perhaps serve to show how the ancestors of the latter have been 

 gradually modified into bats. The Malay cobego, which has a length of about 



C'oliKiiO. 



16 inches, and a tail measuring some 9 inches, is protected from attack by its 

 peculiar coloration. Leading an exclusively nocturnal life, and often hanging on 

 the trunks and branches of trees during the day with its head downward, the 

 cobego when at rest looks exactly like a piece of bark. The short, thin, soft fur com- 

 pletely covers even the parachute, and varies in colour between darkish grey and 

 light chestnut-brown, while the lower-parts are light brown with a more or less 

 reddish hue. The back is so thickly speckled with silvery white as to form an 

 almost exact imitation of the lichen-clad trunk on which the creature rests. 



