ON THE DISPERSAL OF SEEDS BY MAMMALS. I9 



is a small and very common species which during- the day 

 hides in the leaves of plantains, or palms, or, when it can, in 

 caves. It eats fruits voraciously, especially figs {Ficus 

 Miqiielii and Benjamina)^ and I have seen it, or allied 

 species, in great numbers at the Tembusu tree {Fa^rea fra- 

 grans), Livistona australis, the Nepheliiuns^ the Chiko (Achras 

 sapota) and other trees. 



It is difficult to see how these animals detect the fruit on 

 the trees in the night, but perhaps they use the powers of 

 smell. In any case it must be easier for them to find the 

 fruits than for the insectivorous bats to see and catch insects 

 at night. It appears to me that fruit-eating bats are much less 

 intelligent than the insectivorous kinds. They are slower in 

 flight and more constantly caught in house at night being 

 utterly confused by the light, whereas insectivorous bats fly 

 readily in and out. 



The Malays keep these animals off from the fruit trees by 

 attaching- to the boughs the thorny flagella of the rattans 

 which are collected and sold for this purpose, so that the bats 

 in flying to the fruit get their wings entangled and torn by 

 the thorns. 



ViverridcB. — Of the greater number of the species of this 

 group little or nothing is known as to their habits. All appear 

 to be omnivorous, and certainly eat a very large quantity of 

 fruit. They are nocturnal and find the fruit probably by the 

 scent. The common civet cat or Musang {Viverra malaccensis) 

 is a most destructive eater of cultivated fruit. 



I have seen in its excreta the seeds of coffee, Gnetiini 

 scandejis, Caryota Cnniiiigii Mimusops elengi, and it is 

 also very partial to the fruits of Artocarpus rigida and in- 

 tegrifolio (the Jack), Diospyros discolor, Achras sapota, 

 and many other fruits. 



Its habits of selecting the best coffee berries to eat is well 

 known to planters, who often collect the seeds passed by the 

 Musangs for cultivation, as giving stronger plants. It has a 

 habit of dropping its excreta on open spaces, especially paths, 

 so that the seeds passed by it can very readily grow. 



The Binturong {Arctictis binUirong) lives much on fruit. 



