NOBTH AU STB ALT AN MAMMALIA. 191 



I was once sitting on the bank of the Victoria river at sun- 

 down not far from a large camping ground. The bats came 

 flying past me along the river, and, watch in hand, I com- 

 menced counting them as well as I could. After some time 

 I arrived at the result that, superficially speaking, more than 

 three hundred bats were passing every minute. Faster I could 

 not count, and for more than two hours the living current con- 

 tinued pouring past me. According to this the camp must have 

 numbered at least 32,000 individuals, a figure which may by no 

 means be considered too high. 



The P. gouldii is not very shy, and falls an easy victim to 

 the gun of the traveller. Its fat flesh is not bad eating, and 

 the natives consider it a great delicacy, the strong smell of 

 eucalyptus peculiar to these animals evidently forming one of its 

 greatest attractions.. Having killed a bat tho aborigines will with 

 utter satisfaction smell and even bite the fur of the dead body. 



On the Victoria river I observed them breeding in March 

 and April. The two young constantly adhere to their mother's 

 breasts, which, as in most other Chiroptera, are situate in the 

 arm-pits, and they cling to the thick fur of the mother, both when 

 she is on the wing and resting. In this latter position the folded 

 wings of the animal form a secure shelter for the helpless young. 



Being of a pugnacious temper and very irritable, a wounded 

 Flying Fox will pluckily attack the legs of the hunter; and, 

 disturbed in their feeding grounds or in the camp, the bats exude 

 their stinking excrements on the intruder. 



Pteropus scapulatus. 

 This by no means common species was observed on the 

 Daly river occasionally accompanying the mobs of P. gouldii on 

 their feeding grounds. As to whether the two species make 

 use of the same camping grounds, I cannot express a definite 

 opinion. I can only state that on examining a number of Flying 

 Foxes shot at night when feeding a few P. scapidatus would 

 generally be found. The rest were P. goiddii, 



Hipposiderus muscinus. 

 This rare little species is new to the fauna of the Australian 

 continent, and has hitherto been recorded only from New Guinea. 



p2 



