Bats are numerous, and some of them are of enormous size, measuring five feet from tip to tip of the wings, and with a body almost as large as a cat. One of these uncanny creatures, gone astray from its native haunts, flew into the dining-room of a Manila hotel once where I was dining. Its appearance was appalling: women shrieked and fainted, men rolled under the tables, and an earthquake could hardly have made more commotion. These huge bats are much hunted by Europeans, and their soft skins are eagerly purchased by those that are returning home.
A Field for the Sportsman.
The Philippines abound in game; deer and wild boars being plentiful; while the game-birds include pheasants, snipe, pigeons, woodcock, ducks, and other water-fowl. There are also hawks, cranes, herons, parrots, parroquets, and many species peculiar to the islands. Among the latter, we are told of a small black bird of the swallow-kind that makes its nest in the tails of wild horses,—a story more easily told than believed. Other fables concerning birds are extant, one describing the “solitary” bird, which dies when captured; one, the calayo, which has a large, transparent bill, and crows like a cock; one, the bocuit, a bird of seven colors and the sweetest of notes. There is a curious pigeon with a crimson spot on the breast, which looks like a blood-stain from a wound.
Of aquatic creatures, tortoises are of considerable commercial importance. They march in from the sea in great numbers, and the natives turn them on their backs to prevent them from escaping, leaving them in this helpless state until they are ready to remove them.
Quantities of small fish are caught in the rice-paddy fields when they are flooded; and the rich Indians are fond of a curious kind of beetle found in stagnant waters, which will bring in the markets, in the season, as high as fifty cents a dozen. They eat many things that would be repulsive to a foreigner.
At the National Sport: Just Before the Contest.
Among the lizards there is a little creature, known as the guiko, that frequents houses, and whose noise is very annoying. It is not a fair representative of the “cricket on the hearth.” It has its value, however, being useful in destroying vermin. It clings with remarkable tenacity, even when dying, to the piece of timber on which it is placed, the soles of its feet seeming to be provided with suckers.
There are few scenes in nature more beautiful than a bush or tree when lighted with the brilliant fireflies that illuminate the forests at night. They seem almost to have a system of fire-telegraphy, answering, as they do, each other by a sudden glow of a delicate green hue, which gleams in quick succession from point to point of the bush.