452 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. AXVIII. 
the light is sufficiently good, by the much lighter colour of the wing membrane 
and its slightly smaller size. 
It generally flies silently but has a cry which it uses on occasions which to 
the human ear is identical with that of the Saccolaimus. When wounded and on 
the ground it utters a shrill piercing squeak which, not only attracts others of its 
own kind but also many Saccolaimus, which come swooping down out of the 
darkening sky with a rush of wings, dashing past within afoot or two of 
the ground and ascending again into the blue. In like manner it will answer 
to the cry of the wounded Saccolaimus. Individuals differ much in colour. Some 
specimens being a light cinnamon brown, while others are of a greyish ash. 
Saccolaimus saccolaimus.—The Pouch-bearing Sheath-tailed Bat. 
Singhalese—Podi Voula. Tamil—Vava. 
A fairly common bat evenly distributed over the greater part of the low country 
and ascending the hills in the Uva province, to at least 3,500 feet. 
It leaves its day hiding place early in the evening, mounting swiftly into the 
sky with steady powerful wing strokes, then, having gained an altitude of three 
or four hundred feet, it commences to feed, twisting and turning and flying round 
in larger or smaller circles, or streaking off over the rubber and jungle for a mile 
or two in some direction. It flies wonderfully rapidly, and, with its long rather 
pointed wings, might easily be mistaken for a Swift, with numbers of which it 
may often be seen flying in the evening sky. In fact it might well be described 
as the Swift of the Bat world. 
As the evening closes in, it generally drops to a rather lower altitude, follow- 
ing the insects on which it feeds; but this seems to depend largely on the weather 
conditions as on certain evenings it will continue to fly high until it is quite dark. 
Occasionally as it flies along, it will swoop down almost to the ground, quickly 
mounting again into the skies. 
As it flies or swoops it continually utters a shrill squeaking cry, which always 
heralds its approach. It rarely flies silently. 
When wounded, too, and lying on the ground, it utters this peculiar cry, 
which then attracts all its comrades, flying within hearing. These come dash- 
ing down, swooping to within a foot or two of the ground, circling up and swoop- 
ing down again continually—they too uttering the same call. A few 7’. longima- 
nus will also answer to it. 
During tlie day it lives in small companies of five or six, of both sexes, in 
hollow trees, usually choosing an old hollow decayed and broken off Kitul palm. 
Here it lives, some way down, clinging to the sides, head downwards, 
' with feet and wing claws. When disturbed it runs backwards up to the 
entrance, where it hangs for a few moments, before taking flight, in order to 
ascertain the cause of the disturbance. 
Females have been found with young early in September in October and in 
November. They bring forth only one at a birth. 
