CHAP. I.] BATS. 135 



in the Tamil districts the same epithet. The light- 

 coloured variety of the loris in Ceylon has a spot on its 

 forehead, somewhat resembling the namam, or mark worn 

 by the worshippers of Vishnu ; and, from this peculiarity, 

 it is distinguished as the Nama-theivangu. 1 



II. CHEIROPTERA. Bats. The multitude of bats is one 

 of the features of the evening landscape; they abound 

 in every cave and subterranean passage, in the tunnels 

 on the highways, in the galleries of the fortifications, 

 in the roofs of the bungalows, and the ruins of every 

 temple and building. At sunset they are seen issuing 

 from their diurnal retreats to roam through the twilight 

 in search of crepuscular insects, and as night approaches 

 and the lights in the rooms attract the night-flying 

 lepidoptera, the bats sweep round the dinner-table and 

 carry off their tiny prey within the glitter of the lamps. 

 Including the frugivorous section about sixteen species 

 have been identified in Ceylon, and of these, two varieties 

 are peculiar to the island. The colours of some of 

 them are as brilliant as the plumage of a bird, bright 

 yellow, deep orange, and a rich ferruginous brown 

 inclining to red. 2 The Eoussette 3 of Ceylon (the 

 "Flying-fox," as it is usually called by Europeans) 

 measures from three to four feet from point to point of 

 its extended wings, and some of them have been seen 

 wanting but a few inches of five feet in the alar 

 expanse. These sombre-looking creatures feed chiefly 

 on ripe fruits, the guava, the plantain, and the rose- 

 apple, and are abundant in ah 1 the maritime districts, 

 especially at the season when the pulun-imbul 4 , one of the 

 silk-cotton trees, is putting forth its flower-buds, of which 



1 There is an interesting notice of 

 the loris of Ceylon by Dr. TEMPLE- 

 TON, in the Mag. Nat. Hist. 1844, 

 ch. xiv. p. 362. 



2 Rhinolophus affinis ? var. rubidus, 



Hipposideros muriiius, var. fulvus, 

 Kchtart. 



Hipposideros speoris, var. aureus, 

 Kcluurt. 



Kerivoula picta, Pallas. 

 Scotophilus Heathii, Horsf. 



3 Pteropus Edwardsii, Geoff. 



4 Eriodendron orientale, Stead. 



K 4 



