THE CO LEAR EH HAT. 
321 
as to the curious habit of segregation on the part of the males of this species, which induced the latter 
gentleman to give it the name of the Monk Bat. The holes occupied by the Bats contained a great 
quantity of dust looking like coarse snun, which proved to consist entil'd y of fragments of the hard 
parts of insects. Mr. Gosse appears not to have observed this Bat in houses, but he describes it as 
living in great numbers together in the hollows of decayed thatch-palms. He had brought to him a 
large basket containing a number of the Bats obtained from such a tree, and says that, on being 
uncovered, it “ displayed a pretty scene of dusky life. The ‘ pie ’ of our infant days, that contained 
‘ four-and- twenty blackbirds ’ all ready to sing, was nothing to it. Fifty Bats, all alive and kicking, 
were huddled into the narrow space ; an arrangement which, considering their natural propensities, 
was probably not very disagreeable to them. I examined forty-three, a few escaping from the crowd, 
and if I was surprised before at the extent of their gregarious habits, I was still more surprised to find 
that of this number every one was of the male sex, as had been the one formerly examined 
As they huddled and crawled over each other they emitted quivering squeaks. They all dis- 
played the extraordinary activity mentioned above, preferring to run rather than fly, though a few 
took to wing. In climbing, to suspend themselves, they used the thumbs or the hind-feet indis- 
criminately. In running along the floor, an action which they performed very swiftly, they rested on 
the wrists, elevating the fore-parts of the body considerably.” 
THE COLLARED BAT* 
The Mastiff Bats certainly cannot boast of any great attractiveness in their aspect, but 
they must yield the palm of ugliness to a curious species described by Dr. Horsfield. It is 
a clumsy, heavy-looking animal, of considerable size for a Bat, measuring more than five inches 
in length from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail. Its body is entirely covered with a thick 
black skin, which is absolutely naked on the back, and has only a few short hairs upon the sides of 
the body, the interfemoral membrane, and the lower surface. The face and lips also have a few fine 
long hairs, and a curious collar of brown hairs runs round the neck. To add to the charms of the 
creature, the skin is thrown into thick folds in various parts of 
the body ; the legs are thick, and terminated by clumsy feet, in 
which the first toe is very large, bristling with long hairs on the 
outside, and widely separated from the others, so as to acquire 
very much the character of a posterior thumb ; the interfemoral 
membrane is short, forming a mere band between the legs, from 
which the tail, which is about half as long as the body, and very 
thick, projects for about two-thirds of its length. The head is ' 
long ; the muzzle, which is truncated, projects considerably beyond 
the lower jaw ; the ears are quite separate, triangular, with the 
tips rounded ; the tragus is very small ; the wings are long, and 
rather narrow, and their membrane extends down to about the 
middle of the shank, but springs from such a level on the sides of 
the body, that a deep cavity is formed on each side under the 
armpit, which is converted into a sort of pouch by an extension of the skin of the sides to the lower 
surface of the upper arm and thigh. In the pouches thus formed, and close to the armpits, the nipples 
are situated. There are two incisor teeth in each jaw, the upper ones strong, and implanted in well- 
developed and united intermaxillary bones. The upper jaw has one, and the lower jaw two premolars 
on each side, and there are three true molars on each side in both jaws. 
This hideous Bat was discovered in the peninsula of Malacca, and has since been found in Java, 
Sumatra, and Borneo. It does not appear to be abundant in its native countries, and its apparent 
rarity is doubtless increased by its selecting for its residence the wildest and most solitary districts in 
the heart of the great forests. During the day it usually retreats to the hollow trunks of trees, but 
sometimes takes its repose in holes in the ground or in clefts of the rocks, coming out soon after sum 
down, when it is seen flying heavily about the borders of the woods, or even high up above the forest in 
the plains. 
HEAD OF COLLARED BAT. 
( After Temminck . ) 
# Chiromeles torquatus . 
