178 BATS 



black-winged, half -naked Flying " Foxes." They suggest de- 

 mons and calamities. 



The Flying "Fox" derives its name from the resemblance 

 of its head to that of a very small fox. It feeds wholly upon 

 fruit, and when it inhabits well-settled districts it is cordially 

 disliked by every person who owns a fruit-tree. In some por- 

 tions of Australia, these creatures have done great damage 



to fruit, and energetic measures, such as 

 the explosion of dynamite among them, 

 have been resorted to for their de- 

 struction. 



Some of the fruit-growers of Cali- 

 fornia are so apprehensive of this crea- 

 .ture, and so fearful that it may be 

 "introduced," that they have secured 

 the passage of a law by which the im- 

 portation of the Flying "Fox" is pro- 

 hibited so rigidly that not one specimen can be imported, 

 even for exhibition in a zoological garden. As a matter of 

 fact, this fear of the presence of the Flying "Fox" in the 

 United States is quite as groundless as the old fear of 

 being quill-shot by Canada porcupines. It certainly would 

 be very difficult to introduce that species, and keep it from 

 being exterminated, except possibly in some of our insular 

 possessions. 



In the Fly ing-" Fox" Family is found another remarkable 

 variation in bat physiognomy, the HAMMER-HEADED BAT, X 

 a species discovered in the land of the gorilla by Du Chaillu. 



1 Ep-o-moph'o-rus. 



