254 
BATS. 
“ during the day they roost on trees, generally in large colonies, many hundreds 
often occupying a single tree, to which they invariably resort if not driven away. 
Towards sunset they begin to get restless, move about along the branches, and 
by ones and twos fly off for their nightly rounds. If water is at hand, a tank, 
or a river, or the sea, they fly cautiously down and touch the water, but I could 
not ascertain if they took a sip, or merely dipped part of their bodies in. They 
THE KALONG, OR MALAY FOX-BAT (J liat. size.) 
fly vast distances occasionally to such trees as happen to be in fruit.” As the 
first streaks of dawn begin to appear in the east the bats set out on their home¬ 
ward journey from the field of their depredations, and the scene which ensues on 
their arrival at their roosting-place is graphically described by Colonel Tickell:— 
“ From the arrival of the first comer, until the sun is high above the horizon, a 
scene of incessant wrangling and contention is enacted among them, as each 
endeavours to secure a higher and better place, or to eject a neighbour from too 
close vicinage. In these struggles the bats hook themselves along the branches, 
