84 A NATUBALIST IN CELEBES ch. v 



tails firmly twisted round hers. The flesh of the cuscus is 

 rather tough, but quite palatable. 



When I was in Manado, a native brought me a male, a 

 female, and a young one alive, but they refused to eat the 

 fruits and leaves I offered them, and soon sickened and 

 died. 



It is rather strange that in this little island the only 

 conspicuous mammals inhabiting the forests should be 

 representatives of two widely distant great zoological 

 regions. The tailless baboons are characteristic of the 

 African fauna, the cuscus of the Australian region. 



The island of Celebes is the northern limit of the genus 

 Cuscus, and with the exception of the island of Batjan, 

 where it may have been introduced by man, the southern 

 limit of the genus Cynopithecus, and yet here we find them, 

 living together in the same forests, and the only large 

 mammals of the island . 



A small squirrel (Sciv/rus murinus) is fairly common, 

 but, as it is very sharp and shy, I could only obtain one 

 or two specimens. 



There are several species of bats to be obtained. A 

 large fruit-eating bat {Pteropus Wallacei?) maybe seen fly- 

 ing about amongst the trees every evening as the sun is 

 setting. The Cynonycteris minor is also very common, and 

 I obtained a fine specimen of a female Harpyia cephalotes 

 with a young one clinging to its mother's nipple by its 

 mouth, and holding on firmly to the hair of her breast by 

 its little claws. This species is readily distinguished by the 

 bright yellow spots on its wings and body, which, however, 

 lose much of their brightness after a long immersion in 

 spirit. 



It is a very curious fact that whilst the specimens of 

 Harpyia cephalotes obtained in Celebes have longer forearms 

 than those obtained from any other parts of the world, the 



