THE FLYING FOX, OR ROUSSETTE. 



: 5 



beetles are wont to do on summer's evenings. A visit to a bat-cave is, therefore, no 

 pleasant affair. 



The bats which have heretofore been mentioned feed on animal substances, insects 

 appearing to afford the principal nutriment, and raw meat or fresh blood being their 

 occasional luxuries. But the bats of which the accompanying engraving is an example, 

 are chiefly vegetable feeders, and, in their own land, are most mischievous among the 

 fruit-trees. 



FLYING FOX, OR ROUSSETTE. Pteropus RubrlcolHs. 



They are the largest of the present bat tribe, some of them measuring nearly five feet 

 in expanse of wing. Their popular name is FLYING FOXES, a term which has been ap- 

 plied to them on account of the red, fox-like color of the fur, and the very vulpine aspect 

 of the head. Although so superior in size to the Vampires, the Flying Foxes are not to be 

 dreaded as personal enemies, for, unless roughly handled, they are not given to biting 

 animated beings. 



But though their attacks are not made directly upon animal life, they are of consider- 

 able importance in an indirect point of view, for they are aimed against the fruits and 



