THE KALONG, OB FLYING POX. 289 



good sense, for there was very little blood to be got 

 out of him. 



THE KALONG, OE FLYING FOX (Pteropus rubricollis). 



There are several species of Kalongs, which are 

 spread over a considerable portion of Asia and the 

 neighbouring islands. 



On looking at one of these animals, the difference 

 in the eye is at once apparent. As I have already 

 mentioned, the eye is small in the insect-eating bats ; 

 but in the Kalong, which is a fruit eater, it is large, 

 round, soft, and full. They are very large when com- 

 pared with the carnivorous bats, some species having 

 been known to measure five feet across the expanded 

 wings. 



Not needing to catch its prey by aerial evolutions, 

 the Kalong has a very different flight from that of the 

 insect-eating bats. As we know, from watching our 

 own species, which are all insect eaters, the flight of 

 the latter is quick and erratic, while that of the 

 former is slow and majestic, like that of some large 

 bird. 



They are nocturnal in their habits, though not such 

 utter haters of light as the insect-eating bats. Our 

 own species are scarcely ever seen in the day-time; 

 for as soon as the early rays of the sun show them- 

 selves, the bats retire to the dark corners in which 

 they love to assemble. Hollow tree-trunks, disused 

 chimneys, clefts in rocks, and similar localities, are 

 their favourite hiding-places. The Kalongs, on the 



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