500 



Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XXXVII, 



denly appear to have made themselves at home. This becomes apparent 

 at once, since hundreds of them are then slain by the natives, who are fond 

 of eating these bats. 



We are not able to coordinate our present observations and the published 

 records from various regions so as to show beyond a doubt that large migra- 

 tions take place at definite seasons. Such movements might be necessary 

 to find new fields of food supply, though throughout the equatorial forests 

 fruits seem to be available during the whole year. Unfortunately we could 

 not ascertain what fruits they really prefer, as the stomachs of dead speci- 

 mens were always found to be empty. The reason for this is explained by 

 the experiments of Rodhain and Bequaert. It is nevertheless certain that 

 immense numbers of Eidolon helvum journey about irregularly and then 

 become abundant in regions from which they were previously absent. 



2. Epomops franqueti franqueti (Tomes). 



Plate XLIV, Fig. 2; Plate XLV. 



This is a typical epaulet-bat; the adult males have a peculiar glandular 

 sac lined with long white or yellowish hair on each shoulder, always very 

 conspicuous in dried specimens. But in the live bat this pocket may be so 

 drawn in as to conceal the "epaulet" almost completely. Its dull brown 

 pelage is often tinged with purplish, especially on its darker ventral side, 

 which bears a conspicuous whitish patch on the abdomen. They have no 

 tail. The thin lips are muscular and distensible, well adapted for sucking 

 fruit. 



The adult males are somewhat larger than the females and reach 7 inches 

 (178 m.) in length with a wing-spread of 23.62 inches (600 mm.). They 

 appear to give birth to but one young which, in one case, though two-thirds 

 the size of its mother, was still clinging to her breast and was carried about 

 during flight. The breeding season probably extends throughout the year 

 since we have recorded young during every month in which we collected 

 these bats — from October to May. 



No traveller visiting the Congo forests can fail to hear the peculiar note 

 of Epomops franqueti franqueti. The loud roar of the tree-hyrax (Dendro- 

 hyrax) and the short, tirelessly reiterated whistle of this bat are by far the 

 most typical nocturnal sounds. Throughout the year in the neighborhood 

 of almost every village in the Ituri region, and far beyond the forest area, 

 wherever there are propitious wooded places, its vocal efforts ring inter- 

 mittently through the stillness of the night — practically from sunset to 

 sunrise. 



