i68 



The Living Animals of the World 



cannot pass over tlie Sdcker-footed Bats. These are met with, strangely enough, in countries 

 so far apart as Brazil and IMadagascar. The suckers from which they derive their name, in 

 the Brazilian species, are small circular, hollow disks, attached to the thumb and the sole of 

 the foot, recalling the suckers of the cuttle-fish and brown water-beetle. By their means the 

 animal is enabled to climb o\er smooth vertical surfaces. 



A white bat is a rarity in the bat world, ^^'e cannot therefore afford to pass without 

 mention the fact that Central and South America possess two species of White Bats. This 

 colom- is probably developed for protection's sake, the bats being found nestling between the 



silvery leaves of a cocoanut- . 



palm. Brilliant coloration, on 

 the other hand, is by no 

 means so rare. Welwitsch's 

 Bat, for instance — a West 

 African species — is remarkable 

 for its gorgeous coloration, the 

 colours being orange and black. 

 An Indian species, known as 

 the Painted Bat, is said to be 

 so brilliantly coloured as to 

 resemble a gorgeous butterfly 

 rather than a bat. 



Ugliness is more common 

 than beauty amongst the bats, 

 and perhaps the ugliest of all 

 the tribe is the Naked Bat 

 of the Malayan region. It is 

 absolutely repulsive. The skin 

 is naked, save for a collar of 

 hair round the neck; whilst 

 on the throat it gives rise 

 to an enormous throat-pouch, 

 which discharges an oily fluid 

 of a peculiarly nauseating 

 smell. On either side of the 

 body is a deejj pouch, in 

 which the young are carried — 

 a very necessary provision, for 

 they would be quite unable 

 to cling to the body of the 

 parent, as do the young of 

 fur-bearing bats, on account 

 of the naked skin. 



Of the great group of the 

 Vampire-bats we can only make mention of the blood-sucking species. These are natives of 

 South America. It is to Dr. Darwin that we owe our first absolutely reliable information 

 about these little animals. Before the account in his Journal, it was uncertain to which of 

 the vam[)ires belonged the unenviable distinction of being the blood-sucker. During the stay 

 of the great naturalist in Chili one was actually caught by one of his servants, as evening was 

 drawing on, biting the withers of a horse. In the morning the spot where the bite had been 

 inflicted was plainly visible, from its swollen condition. These two species, it has been stated, 

 " are the only bats which subsist entirely on a diet of blood, yet it is possible that . . . some 

 of the Javelin-bats or their allies may on occasion vary their ordinary food with it." 



■iiii-Kuii, j-.z.a.] 



[Croifdo/i. 



Back view uf the cobeg 



'itlithc linilw oxtiinded, shuwing the great sizeof the flying-menilDranes, 

 ov paiaeliute. 



