1 8 ON THE DISPERSAL OF SEEDS BY MAMMALS. 



tinted a little with yellow or orange. Thosa, however, that 

 grow in more open country or on the exposed edges of jun- 

 gles have bright yellow or orange coloured fruits. 



In the heathy country bordering the Pahang River, I found a 

 species of WilhtgJiheia which bore exceedingly pleasant, small, 

 ovalfruitsofabrightapricot-yellow colourand very conspicuous. 

 It grew in low thickets in open sandy country, where monkeys 

 do not go, as they have an objection to travelling far on the 

 ground on account of the risks from tigers, wild cats, dogs and 

 other enemies. The conspicuous fruited WilhtgJibeia had 

 probably developed its showy colour to attract birds, of which 

 there were many large fruit-eating kinds, and the reduction in 

 size of this fruit is also an assistance in dispersal as even the 

 hornbill can hardly manage to carry a globose fruit as large 

 as that of Wilbighbeia ediilis. 



The various species of Dialium, known to the natives as 

 Kranji, are big trees with ovoid black pods, each containing 

 one hard seed which is enclosed in a somewhat acid but plea- 

 santly flavoured pithy substance. The monkeys are very fond 

 of these and one often sees the remains of the fruit on the 

 ground. The fruit is unfortunately relished by the monkeys 

 before it is ripe so that very often the whole crop is gathered 

 green by them and so destroyed, and here I may call attention 

 to the value of acidity of unripe fruits in preventing animals 

 from eating them too soon, which would soon exterminate 

 the trees by destroying the seeds. 



Though many of the fruits eaten by animals are sweet or 

 pleasant to our taste, a large proportion of those very popular 

 with monkeys are either tasteless or nauseous — often astringent 

 in flavour to us. Some may even be poisonous as Strychnos. 



Cheiroptera. — There are several kinds of fruit-eating bats in 

 the Malay Peninsula, but of their habits little is known. The 

 largest kind, Pteropus edulis, is very irregular in its 

 appearance. In some years there are hardly any to be seen 

 in Singapore, but some years ago there were enormous num- 

 bers roosting every day in the Garden jungle. They fly great 

 distances and may be seen far out at sea. They eat great 

 quantities of fruit of different kinds. Cynopterns marginatus 



