the
following genus, which are also frugivorous, are distinguished from
the rest of the bats by a claw on the first or index finger, which
is short.

Dental formula: Inc., 4/4; can., 1--1/1--1; premolars, 2--2/3--3;
molars, 3--3/3--3.

NO. 31. PTEROPUS EDWARDSII _vel_ MEDIUS.
_The Common Flying Fox_ (_Jerdon's No. 12_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Badul_, Bengali and Mahratti; _Wurbagul_, Hindi;
_Toggul bawali_, Canarese; _Sikurayi_, Telegu.

HABITAT.--All through India, Ceylon, and Burmah.

[Figure: The Flying Fox at Home.]

DESCRIPTION.--Head and nape rufous black; neck and shoulders golden
yellow (the hair longer); back dark brown; chin dark; rest of body
beneath fulvous or rusty brown; interfemoral membrane brownish
black.--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Length, 12 to 14 inches; extent of wings, 46 to 52 inches.

These bats roost on trees in vast numbers. I have generally found
them to prefer tamarinds of large size. Some idea of the extent of
these colonies may be gathered from observations by McMaster, who
attempted to calculate the number in a colony. He says: "In five
minutes a friend and I counted upwards of six hundred as they passed
over head, _en route_ to their feeding grounds; supposing their
nightly exodus to continue for twenty minutes, this would give
upwards of two thousand in one roosting place, exclusive of those
who took a different direction."

[Figure: Head of _Pteropus medius_.]

Tickell's account of these colonies is most graphic, though Emerson
Tennent has also given a most interesting and correct account of
their habits. The former writes:--"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, scrambling about hand over hand with some speed, biting
each other severely, striking out with the long claw of the thumb,
shrieking and cackling without intermission. Each new arrival is
compelled to fly several times round the tree, being threatened from
all points, and, when he eventually hooks on, he has to go through
a series of combats, and be probably ejected two or three times before
he makes good his tenure." For faithful portraying, no one could
improve on this description. These bats are exceeding strong on the
wing. I was aware that they went