190 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Pteropus gouldii. 



This large "Flying Fox" is very plentiful throughout the 

 north, and especially in the neighbourhood of great rivers, where 

 it literally swarms. 



It is in the mangroves on the long tidal creeks — so numerous 

 in Northern Australia — or in the bamboo jungles along the great 

 water-courses that the animals spend the day, assembled in flocks 

 numbering several thousands. Hanging on the branches of the 

 trees by their hind legs, and also clinging to each other in the 

 same way, they almost entirely cover the trees in their camping 

 grounds. 



Such a " Flying Fox camp" is never perfectly quiet, and even 

 in the middle of the day numbers are flitting about in and around 

 the trees uttering their hoarse shrieks, and the cause of this 

 restlessness may be found in the fact that one individual is not 

 able to settle down in this enormous mass of animals without 

 disturbing others. The buzzing noise issuing from one of these 

 camps when heard at a distance might be compared to that of a 

 gigantic beehive, and the clamour of the colony when disturbed 

 is deafening. Thousands of these animals stack themselves one 

 on top of the other in such masses that the thick limbs of large 

 trees are split and broken by their weight, and when approached 

 by man or any other enemy the individuals in the centre of these 

 hordes of living creatures are prevented from quickly getting away 

 by those hanging outside. 



The native hunter of the woods takes advantage of this latter 

 fact, and, on discovering a " Flying Fox camp," runs quickly 

 up, and, bashing away at the struggling bats with a stick or 

 bamboo-rod, easily secures large quantities of this highly esteemed 

 game amongst the aborigines. 



Although by no means numerous, at least one of these camps 

 may be found on any large river, and its numbers comprise nearly 

 all the individuals of a considerable district. At sundown the bats 

 commence travelling, sometimes great distances, to reach a patch 

 of the forest where the Eucalypti are in blossom, the flowers of 

 these trees forming their principal food. A constant string of 

 animals is then for hours issuing from the camp, and the observer 

 who posts himself on their roving route may to a certain extent 

 form an idea of their numbers. 



