“The weather,” he says, “which was beautiful, balmy, and warm, invited us towards evening to out-door enjoyment and rest, after a fatiguing day of travel and active labour; but chairs, settees, and benches were scarcely occupied by us on the piazza and lawn, when to our amazement, and the horror of the female portion of our party, small black Bats made their appearance in immense numbers, flickering around the premises, rushing in and out of doors and through open windows, almost obscuring the early twilight, and causing a general stampede of the ladies, who fled, covering their heads with their hands, fearing that the dreaded little vampires might make a lodgment in their hair.
“This remarkable exhibition much increased our disappointment in regard to the habitable condition of our acquisition, and was entirely unexpected, inasmuch as the unwelcome neighbours were in their dormant state, and ensconced out of sight when the property was examined previous to purchase.
“Evening after evening did we patiently, though not complacently, watch this periodical exodus of dusky wings into light from their lurking-places one after another, and in some instances in couples, and even triples, according as the size of the holes or apertures from which they emerged in the slate roofing would permit. Their excursions invariably commenced with the cry of the Whippoorwill, both at coming evening and early dawn, and it was observed that they always first directed their flight towards the river, undoubtedly to damp their Mouse-like snouts, but not their spirits, for it was likewise observed that they returned to play hide and seek, and indulge in all other imaginable gambols: when, after gratifying their love of sport, and satisfying their voracious appetites (as the absence of Mosquitoes and Gnats testified), they would re-enter their habitation, and again emerge at the first signal of their feathered trumpeter. Thus I ascertained one very important fact, namely, that the Bat, or the species which annoyed us, ate and drank twice in twenty-four hours. Such appeared their habit, such, therefore, was their indispensable need.” After trying various remedies, none of which seemed to abate the nuisance, M. Figaniere adopted the following plan:—
“When the Bats’ réveillé was sounded by the bugle of the Whippoorwill, all the hands of our establishment, men and boys, each armed with a wooden implement (shaped like a cricket-bat), marched to the third floor, ‘on murderous deeds with thoughts intent.’ A lighted lantern was placed in the middle of one of the rooms, divested of all furniture, to allure the hidden foe from their strongholds. After closing the window to prevent all escape into the open air, the assailants distributed at regular distances to avoid clubbing each other, awaited the appearance of the Bats enticed into the room by the artificial light and impelled by their own natural craving. The slaughter commenced, and progressed with sanguinary vigour for several hours, or until brought to a close by the weariness of dealing blows that made the enemy bite the dust, and overpowered by the heat and closeness of the apartment. This plan succeeded perfectly. After a few evenings of similar exercise, in which the batteurs became quite expert in the use of their weapons, every wielding of the wooden bat bringing down an expiring namesake, the war terminated by the extermination of every individual of the enemy in the main building. However, there still was the cockloft of the laundry, which gave evidence of a large population. In this case I had recourse to a plan which had been recommended, but was not carried out in regard to the dwelling-house. I employed a slater to remove a portion of the slating, which required repairing. This process discovered some fifteen hundred or two thousand Bats, of which the larger number were killed, and the remainder sought the barn, trees, and other places of concealment in the neighbourhood.
“To remove the very disagreeable odour which remained in the upper part of the house, various kinds of disinfectants were employed with some advantage; but the most effectual method resorted to was that of opening holes of about four inches square, two at each gable end, to permit a current of air to pass through. These holes were covered with wire gauze to prevent the re-entrance of any of the remainder of the army of the enemy which might hover around the premises. At the end of five years the odour has now nearly disappeared, being hardly perceptible during a continuance of very damp weather.”
The great number of species of Bats which have been described from various parts of the world, but especially from tropical and sub-tropical regions, display two very strongly-marked types of structure, associated in general with very different habits and modes of life. Some are exclusively confined to a fruit diet, or consume animal food only as an exceptional dainty; whilst the others almost as exclusively find their nourishment in the swarms of insects which everywhere people the air. Of the latter, however, some few feed upon fruits, and others are said to diversify their insect fare by occasionally sucking the blood of other animals, and even of man himself. In the Frugivorous, or Fruit-eating Bats, the crowns of the molar teeth are smooth, with a central furrow running in the direction of the length of the jaw; in the Insectivorous forms, on the contrary, the molars show sharp tubercles separated by transverse furrows, generally producing a sort of W-like pattern on each tooth. These two types of tooth-structure are associated in each case with other characters. The Bats are thus divided into two great groups, generally regarded as sub-orders.
HEAD OF THE KALONG.
CHAPTER II.
SUB-ORDER I.—MEGACHIROPTERA, OR LARGE BATS.
FAMILY I.—PTEROPIDÆ, OR FRUIT-EATING BATS.
Characteristics of Fruit-eating Bats—Distribution—Diet—Flying Fox of Ceylon: its Habits, as described by Sir E. Tennent—The Flight of the Pteropidæ—Known to the Ancients—The Fruit Bats in the Zoological Gardens—[INDIAN FLYING FOX]—Diet—Dissipated Habits—[GREAT KALONG]—Linnæus’s Description—In their Dormitories—[NICOBAR, MANED, JAPANESE, AND GREY FRUIT BATS]—[GREY-HEADED FRUIT BAT]—[GOULD’S FRUIT BAT]—[ROUSSETTE]—[EGYPTIAN FRUIT BAT]—[HOTTENTOT FRUIT BAT]—[MARITIME FRUIT BAT]—[MARGINED FRUIT BAT]—[WHITE’S FRUIT BAT]—[HAMMER-HEADED BAT]—[HARPY BAT]—[GREATER HARPY BAT]—[CLOAKED FRUIT BAT]—[DWARF LONG-TONGUED FRUIT BAT]—[BLACK-CHEEKED FRUIT BAT]—[FIJIAN LONG-TONGUED FRUIT BAT]