222 FUANA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA 



one at a birth, which the female carries head downwards 

 on her breast, with its legs clinging round her body. 

 This does not appear to at all impede her flight, although 

 the young one retains this position till it looks almost as 

 large as its mother. 



A very curious bat is the tube-nosed fruit-bat {Harpy ia 

 australis)y which does not seem to be known in the Swan 

 River district, is seldom seen at Champion Bay, and is not 

 very abundant in the Gascoyne River district, though it 

 is tolerably plentiful in North Queensland. Possibly it is 

 more numerous in all the places mentioned than appears, 

 but its small size and nocturnal habits prevent its being 

 observed. 



This species is rarely seen abroad in the daytime, and 

 its habits are consequently difficult to study. It does not 

 go in large flocks, nor hang in clusters on the trees. I 

 have found a few hanging on trees, but always in situations 

 where they were well concealed ; and generally they are 

 found clinging to the sides of hollow trees. In such 

 situations I have found about twenty together. They do 

 not usually appear until the evening shades are deepening 

 into the darkness of night ; and on the only occasion on 

 which I discovered a tube-nosed bat feeding it was eating 

 the pulpy matter of the fruit of the baio-tree {Zamia 

 media). 



The tube-nosed bat differs very markedly from all other 

 bats with which I am acquainted, not only in the extra- 

 ordinary appendages from which it is named, but also in 

 the remarkably large size of its eyes, and the extreme 

 backward position of the ears. The tubes are an external 

 prolongation, to the extent of nearly half an inch, of the 

 nostrils ; and this bat probably relies for guidance during 

 flight on the sense of smell, as some others are known to 

 do on that of touch. I have carefully watched bats of 

 this species during their flight, on every possible occasion, 

 with the result that I feel sure that the strange nasal 

 development serves a similar purpose to that of the equally 

 remarkable " nose-leaves " of some other species is believed 

 to do. Experiments with a captive specimen showed 



