at naturalists in their system consider them as following closely the
order which contains these four-handed lovers of trees. Captain Stokes
observes that the leathern wings have a singular heavy flap, and that a
flight of bats would suddenly alight on a bamboo and bend it to the
ground with their weight. Each individual struggles on alighting to
settle on the same spot, and like rooks or men in similar circumstances,
they do not succeed in fixing themselves without making a great deal of
noise. When first they clung to the bamboo, they did so by means of the
claw on the outer edge of the flying membrane, and then they gradually
settled.

Among the wild and varied scenery of those groups of islands called the
Friendly Islands, the Feejees, and the Navigators, species of fox-bat
form one of the characteristics of the place to the observant eye;
while, if the traveller should happen to be blind, their presence among
the otherwise fragrant forests would be readily perceived from the
strong odour which taints the atmosphere, and which, says the Naturalist
of the United States Exploring Expedition, "will always be remembered by
persons who have visited the regions inhabited by these animals." Mr
Titian Peale mentions that a specimen of the fox-bat was kept in
Philadelphia for several years; and like most creatures, winged as well
as wingless, was amiable to those persons who were constantly near it,
while it showed clearly and unmistakably its dislike to strangers.

On its voyage, this strange passenger was fed on boiled rice, sweetened
with sugar; while at the Museum, it was solaced and fed during its
captivity chiefly on fruit, and now and then appeared to enjoy the
picking from the bones of a boiled fowl. The fox-bat is but seldom
brought alive to this country. The late Mr Cross of the Surrey
Zoological Gardens kept one for a short time, and deemed it one of his
greatest rarities; and, till the arrival lately of the pair alluded to
at the Gardens in the Regent's Park, we have not heard of other
specimens having been exhibited in this country. They are difficult to
keep, and seem to feel very sensibly the changes of our climate, while
it is a hard thing to get for them the food on which they live when in a
state of liberty.

Mr Macgillivray discovered a new species of fox-bat on Fitzroy Island,
off the coast of Australia, when he was naturalist of H.M.S.
_Rattlesnake_.[25] He fell in with this large fruit-eating bat
(_P