48 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
bright chocolate. There were also several specimens of a Hawk 
about, and woe betide the unfortunate Bat that, becoming 
separated from its flock, was put in chase. The way these 
Hawks took the Bats one after the other was astonishing, and 
strongly reminded me of a man eating oysters. I shot several 
of these Hawks, but only succeeded in getting one, the rest 
falling over the side of the cliff. It proved to be the scarce 
Macherhamphus alcinus, remarkable for the size of its gape and 
shortness of its beak, very much resembling the Swallow, being 
accustomed to take its prey in the same manner while on the 
wing. Among the Bats were three albinos, called by the Malays, 
‘the rajah, his son and wife.” 
Arising before daylight we witnessed a reversal of the pro- 
ceedings of the previous night, the Swifts going out, and the 
Bats coming home. These latter literally “rained” into their 
chasm for two hours after sunrise ; looking up in the bright sky, 
numbers of small specks appear; these flash down perpendicularly 
with great rapidity, and disappear in the darkness. Several 
M. alcinus put in an appearance, hawking after the Swifts which 
they had rarely tried to catch the night before, the Swift then 
being as a rule easily able to avoid them. Their plan now was 
to swoop down from the mouth of the cave, striking into and 
following the stream of the birds, being successful once in every 
three swoops. I secured many specimens of the Bats, and found 
them to be all of one species; the caudal membrane extends 
only half down the tail, which is free for an inch and a half, 
giving the animal, when the wings are folded up, very much the 
appearance of a mouse. The wings are very long and narrow, 
and it is a very swift flyer. 
After breakfast we started for the summit of the cliff; the 
path, which is about two feet wide, overhangs the Bat Cavern. 
I must confess I took a very tight hold of the rock when looking 
down, the bottom being lost in the darkness, at this point 600 ft. 
below. We ascended between 200 and 300 ft. more, and then 
found ourselves on the summit; here a most lovely extended view 
in every direction except the north; miles and miles of forest, 
broken here and there by mountain-tops. Unfortunately Kina 
Balu, the highest mountain in Malaysia, was hidden by clouds. 
To the north we could trace the sea, and were much surprised to 
find how short a distance we had actually covered, although we 
