246 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



On the occasion referred to, he says i^Proc. 

 Zool. Soc, 1863, p. 439) : " I got my assistant, Mr 

 Watson, to bring his gun, and shoot some, so that 

 I might satisfy myself of the identity of these 

 animals. Mr Watson shot some two or three, 

 whilst in the act of seizing (as he supposed) their 

 finny prey, and on examination I found them to 

 be actually ' flying foxes.' During a second visit 

 on the 5th and 6th of June, I observed the same 

 thing occur again." 



Blanford, who has figured the skull of Pteropus 

 medius^ agrees with Jerdon in thinking that the 

 habit with this species of skimming over water in 

 the evening has been mistaken for fishing. He has 

 no doubt it is for the purpose of sipping the water, 

 and this is also the opinion of Col. Tickell, who has 

 published a good account of its habits in the third 

 volume of the Calcutta Journal of Natural History. 

 This peculiarity is not confined to the Pteropodidce. 

 I have observed it in some of our British Bats. 



1 Fauna of British India (Mammals), p. 256. 



