THE GREAT-EARED LEAF-BAT. 295 



All tlie host were of the same species, and there 

 was no perceptible variation in size, but some iu 

 colour. Many were of a very intense brown, others 

 paler and brighter, while one might almost be de- 

 scribed as fulvous. One of them had irregular 

 patches of white on the breast. As they huddled 

 and crawled over each other, they emitted quivering 

 squeaks. They all displayed the extraordinary ac- 

 tivity mentioned above, preferring to run rather than 

 fly, though a few took to wing. In climbing to sus- 

 pend themselves they used the thumbs or the hind 

 feet indiscriminately. In running along the floor, 

 an action which they performed very swiftly, they 

 rested on the wrists, elevating the fore parts of the 

 body considerably. 



The tongue is large and thick, with the posterior 

 half elevated ; the papillae on this portion are large 

 and mammillary ; those on the anterior part are 

 small. 



In May 1846, my servant caught, in the evening, 

 at Belmont House, two of this species, both of which 

 were females, and one was pregnant. This was the 

 only occasion on which the female came under my 

 notice ; its size, form, and colour do not differ from 

 those of the male. 



I found this little Molossus infested with a curious 

 parasitic insect, a species of Trichodectes. 



THE GREAT-EARED LEAF-BAT. 



One of the most common of the Jamaican Cheiro- 

 ptera is the Great-eared Leaf-bat (Macrotus Water- 



