102 



THE BATS. 



insects and small animals, and only later 

 adopt a vegetable diet. 



As in all bats, the strong thumb is quite 

 free from the flying membrane, and is armed 

 with a sickle-shaped claw; but, unlike other 

 members of the order, the flying- fox has 



aKo the second digit imperfectly devel- 

 oped, it being altogether scarcely so 

 long as the metacarpal bone of the ver}- 

 ong third digit. In most species, too, 

 it is also armed with a claw, though a 

 small one, and this claw is already plainly 

 recognizable in the unborn kalongs. 



The species represented in fig. ^,7, the 

 Kalong {Ptcropus cditlis), has a fox-like 

 head with sharp snout and ears, brownish 

 black fur, somewhat lighter underneath, 

 and almost black wings, which merely fringe 

 the hind-limbs. The tail is altogether want- 

 ing. It lives in large flocks on the Sunda 

 Islands as far east as Timor, and also passes 

 over to the continent by way of Malacca. 

 By day it hangs on trees by one foot, as 



