THE GEE AT KALONG. 
271 
The flesh is said by Colonel Sykes to be delicate, and without disagreeable flavour ; but he states 
that the only persons in Western India who eat these Bats are the Portuguese residents. According 
to Mr. Jerdon, however, many classes in the Madras presidency also eat them. 
THE GREAT KALONG.* 
This, which is the largest of all known Bats, is an inhabitant of the great islands of the Eastern 
Archipelago, especially Java and Sumatra, where it exists in immense numbers. The species is also 
said to occur in the Philippine Islands and in Malacca. It is nearly allied to the Indian Eruit Bat, but 
grows to a larger size, attaining a length of about fourteen inches, and an expanse of wing of four feet 
and upwards. The colour varies considerably, but is generally brownish- black on the back, with the 
top of the head and the neck reddish-yellow, and tinged with chestnut-brown beneath. The muzzle, 
ears, and wing-membranes are black ; the ears are shorter than in the Indian species, and the outer 
margin is less concave towards the tip ; and the wing-membranes originate on the sides of the body 
at a greater distance from the centre of the back. Some of the varieties have been described as distinct 
species ; two especially, in which the fur is entirely black, figure in the catalogues under the names of 
Pteropus Pluto and P. funereus. 
The Kalong (see next page) was the first of the Indian Frugivorous Bats to be made 
known to European naturalists in modern times. It was described under the name of Vespertilio 
( odmirabilis , by Bontius, in his “ Historia Naturalis Indite Orientalis.” The species was also described 
and figured by Seba and other naturalists of the seventeenth century ; but Linnseus, by a curious 
blunder, confused the references to this and allied species with the stories told of the American Yampire 
Bats, and described these Eastern fruit-eating forms as constituting a species under the name of 
Vespertilio vmvpyrus, the natural history of which lie summed up in the following queer para- 
graph : — “Noctu haurit sanguinem dormientium servorum, cristas gallorum et laerymas palmarum, 
phlebotomus felicissimus in pleuritide ! ” (By night it sucks the blood of sleeping slaves, the 
combs of cocks, and the juice of palm-trees, a capital lancet in pleurisy ! ) In its habits it closely 
resembles its Indian ally, resorting in great numbers to particular trees for the purpose of sleep- 
ing through the day, and starting forth at sundown in search of the fruits on which it feeds. 
Dr. Horsfield describes them as presenting a singular spectacle in their dormitories. “Banged 
in succession with the head downwards” he says, “the membrane contracted about the body, 
and often in close contact, they have little resemblance to living beings, and by a person not 
accustomed to their economy are readily mistaken for a part of the tree, or for a fruit of un- 
common size suspended from its branches.” He adds that they occasion “ incalculable mischief, 
attacking and devouring indiscriminately every kind of fruit, from the abundant and useful cocoa- 
nut which surrounds every dwelling of the meanest peasantry, to the rare and most delicate 
productions which are cultivated with care by princes and chiefs of distinction.” In his history 
of Sumatra, Mr. Marsden states that he has observed very large flights of these Bats passing at a 
great height in the air, as if migrating from one country to another ; and lie adds that Captain 
Forrest noticed them crossing the Straits of Sunda from Java Head to Mount Pugong. The flesh of 
this species is eaten by the inhabitants of the countries where it abounds, who thug get some return 
for the mischief it does in their gardens and plantations. Its specific name (edulis) refers to this 
circumstance. Its name among the natives of Java is Kalong, and with the Malays of Sumatra and 
of the peninsula of Malacca Kaluwang, or Kluang. 
THE NICOBAR, MANED, JAPANESE, AND GREY FRLIT BATS.f 
It will be unnecessary to do more than refer to a few- of the numerous species of Pteropus in- 
habiting the islands of the Eastern seas, as their habits in all cases are almost exactly alike, and it 
would be useless to attempt the bare description of a number of closely-allied species. The Nicobar 
and Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal have their peculiar species (P. nicobaricus ), about the same 
size as the Indian Fruit Bat, but of which the females and young males are usually black all over, 
* Pteropus edulis. 
t Pteropus nicobaricus , jubatus ) dasymallus, and r/riseus . 
