ORDER CARNASSIER. 107 



latter, as well as by the European colonists, various methods 

 are employed to protect the orchards and gardens. Deli- 

 cate fruits, such as mangos, jambus, lansas, fyc, as they 

 approach to maturity, are ingeniously secured by means of 

 a loose net or basket, skilfully constructed of split bamboo. 

 Without this precaution, little valuable fruit would escape 

 the ravages of the kalong. 



" There are few situations in the lower parts of Java, in 

 which this night wanderer is not constantly observed ; as 

 soon as the light of the sun has retired, one animal is seen 

 to follow the other at a small but irregular distance, and this 

 succession continues uninterrupted till darkness obstructs 

 the view. The flight of the kalong is slow and steady, 

 pursued in a straight line, and capable of long continuance. 

 The chase of the kalong forms occasionally an amusement 

 to the colonists and inhabitants, during the moonlight 

 nights, which in the latitude of Java are uncommonly se- 

 rene. He is watched in his descent to the fruit trees, and 

 a discharge of small shot readily brings him to the ground. 

 By this means I frequently obtained four or five individuals 

 in the course of an hour ; and by my observations I am led 

 to believe, that there are two varieties which belong to one 

 species, as they appear all to live in one society, and are ob- 

 tained promiscuously." 



One observation we shall make here is, that all the spe- 

 cies of one genus are found to inhabit the same region, to 

 the exclusion of another, and particularly the torrid zone 

 of a Continent. This is particularly applicable to the sub- 

 genus Pteropus, none of the species of which have yet been 

 discovered out of the warm climates of the old world. 



The Roussette of Edwards, or Madagascar bat, the com- 

 mon roussette, Vespertilio ingens of Clusius,) and the red- 

 necked roussette, (Rougette of Buffon,) and confounded by 

 Linnaeus and Gmelin under the synonyme of Vespertilio 



