ludicrous efforts to disengage themselves from the branch on which they hang. From the sharpness of the claws, they cannot readily leave their hold without the assistance of the expanded wing; and, if suddenly killed during the day, they continue suspended after death. If, therefore, it be desired to obtain one during the day, it is necessary to oblige them to take wing. Soon after sunset they commence their nocturnal pursuit in search of food, and direct their course, by an unerring instinct, to the forests, villages, and plantations, doing incalculable mischief, by attacking and devouring every kind of fruit, from the abundant and useful cacao-nut, which surrounds the dwellings of the peasantry, to the rare and most delicate productions cultivated by princes and chiefs of distinction. The flight of the Kalong is slow and steady, pursued in a straight line, and capable of long continuance. The chase of it forms occasionally an amusement to the colonists and inhabitants during the moonlight nights, which are uncommonly serene. He is watched in his descent to the fruit trees, and a discharge of small shot

readily brings him to the ground. Various modes are adopted to preserve orchards and gardens from the ravages of the Kalong. Delicate fruits, such as mangos, as they approach to maturity, are ingeniously secured in a loose basket or net, skilfully made of split bamboo. Without some such precaution little valuable fruit would escape destruction. The flesh of this bat is esteemed by the natives. In some parts of England the word "flittermouse," corrupted sometimes into "flintymouse," is the common term for the bat, particularly in the county of Kent, in which the language, as well as the aspect and the names of the inhabitants, retains more of the Saxon character than will be found in, perhaps, almost any other part of England.*

We extract the following description of a new variety of bat from a letter in the Annals of Natural History, written by the Rev. Leonard Jenyns, 1839:-" During a visit to Durham, last autumn, I noticed in the Museum attached to the University of that town a white bat, which

* Bell's British Quadrupeds.

I at first supposed to be merely an accidental variety of one of our common species. On a close inspection I perceived that it could not be referred to any species I was acquainted with; and on making application to Mr. Fox, the wellknown naturalist of that place, I was kindly entrusted by that gentleman with the loan of the specimen, to examine it more closely. This I have accordingly done, and I have little hesitation in pronouncing it to be distinct from all the bats which have been hitherto met with in this country, and, as far my knowledge goes, from all those described by Continental authors. There is no ground for supposing that its white colour is otherwise than accidental; but it possesses other characters, those especially derived from the form of the tragus, of sufficient importance, I think, to mark its peculiarity. I learnt that this bat had been obtained, some time preceding, in the church of Auckland St. Andrew, about twelve miles from Durham. It is now stuffed, on which account it is not possible to take some of the measurements with as much accuracy as could be wished. I

propose to designate this bat Vespertilio ædilis." It resembles the species of Daubentonii more than any other British species, but the feet are larger; the toes long and bristly; the fur very thick and woolly about the head. The head and body are in length two inches; the tail one inch three lines; the extent of the wings ten inches. "I have compared this bat," continues Mr. Jenyns, "closely with specimens of most of our British species, with which it cannot possibly be confounded."

We will conclude our account of this curious and interesting animal by giving the opinion of Dr. Shaw. That if any one, not aware of the anatomical impossibility of success, should attempt, by the aid of machinery, to fly, he could not have a better model than the light and beautiful wing of the bat.