244 Handbook of Nature-Study 



knees bend backward in an opposite direction from ours. This renders 

 him unable to walk, and when attempting to do so, he has the appearance 

 of "scrabbling" along on his feet and elbows. When thus moving he 

 keeps his wings fluttering rapidly, as if feeling his way in the dark, and 

 his movements are as trembly as those of a palsied old man. 



The little brown bat's wings often measure nine inches from tip to tip, 

 and yet he folds them so that they scarcely show; he does not fold them 

 like a fan, but rather like a pocket knife. The hind legs merely act as a 

 support for the side wing, and the little hip bones look pitifully sharp; 

 the membrane reaches only to the ankle, the tiny emaciated foot pro- 

 jecting from it is armed with five, wirelike toes, tipped with sharp hooked 

 claws. It is by these claws that he hangs when resting during the day, 

 for he is upside-down-y in his sleeping habits, slumbering during the day- 

 time, while hanging head downward, without any inconvenience from a 

 rush of blood to the brain ; when thus suspended, the tail is folded down. 

 Sometimes he hangs by one hind foot and a front hook; and he is a wee 

 thing when all folded together and hung up, with his nose tucked between 

 his hooked thumbs, in a very babyish fashion. 



The bat is very particular about his personal cleanliness. People who 

 regard the bat as a dirty creature, had better look to it that they are even 

 half as fastidious as he. He washes his face with the front part of his 

 wing, and then licks his wash-cloth clean; he scratches the back of his 

 head with his hind foot and then licks the foot; when hanging head down, 

 he will reach one hind foot down and scratch behind his ear with an 

 aplomb truly comical in such a mite; but it is most fun of all to see him 

 clean his wings; he seizes the edges in his mouth and stretches and licks 

 the membrane until we are sure it is made of silk elastic, for he pulls and 

 hauls it in a way truly amazing. 



The bat has a voice which sounds like the squeak of a toy wheelbarrow, 

 and yet it is expressive of emotions. He squeaks in one tone when holding 

 conversation with other bats, and squeaks quite differently when seized 

 by the enemy. 



The mother bat feeds her little ones from her breasts as a mouse does 

 its young, only she cradles them in her soft wings while so doing; often 

 she takes them with her when she goes out for insects in the evenings; 

 they cling to her neck during these exciting rides; but when she wishes to 

 work unencumbered, she hangs her tiny youngsters on some twig and 

 goes back to them later. The little ones are born in July and usually 

 occur as twins. During the winter, bats hibernate like woodchucks or 

 chipmunks. They select for winter quarters some hollow tree or cave or 

 other protected place. They go to sleep when the cold weather comes, 

 and do not awake until the insects are flying; they then come forth in the 

 evenings, or perhaps early in the morning, and do their best to rid the 

 world of mosquitoes and other insect nuisances. 



There are many senseless fears about the bat; for instance, that he 

 likes to get tangled in a lady's tresses, a situation which would frighten 

 him far more than the lady; or that he brings bedbugs into the house, 

 when he enters on his quest for mosquitoes, which is an ungrateful slander. 

 Some people believe that all bats are vampires, and only await an oppor- 

 tunity to suck blood from their victims. It is true that in South America 

 there are two species which occasionally attack people who are careless 

 enough to sleep with their toes uncovered, but feet thus injured seem to 



