Mammal Study 243 



THE LITTLE BROWN BAT 



Teacher's Story 



His small umbrella, quaintly halved, 

 Describing in the air an arc alike inscrutable, 

 Elate philosopher! EMILY DICKENSON. 



IIOEVER first said "as blind as a bat," surely never 

 looked a bat in the face, or he would not have 

 said it. The deep-set, keen, observant eyes are 

 quite in keeping with the alert attitude of the 

 erect, pointed ears; while the pug-nose and the 

 wide open, little, pink bag of a mouth, set with tiny, sharp teeth, give 

 this anomalous little animal a deliciously impish look. Yet how have 

 those old artists belied the bat, who fashioned their demons after his 

 pattern, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, wings and all! Certain it is, if human 

 beings ever get to be winged angels in this world, they are far more likely 

 to have their wings fashioned like those of the bat than like those of the 

 bird. As a matter of fact, there are no other wings so wonderful as the 

 bat's; the thin membrane is equipped with sensitive nerves which 

 inform the flier of the objects in his path, so that he darts among the 

 branches of trees at terrific speed and never touches a twig; a blinded bat 

 was once set free in a room, across which threads were stretched, and 

 he flew about without ever touching one. After we have tamed one of 

 these little, silky flitter-mice we soon get reconciled to his wings for he 

 proves the cunningest of pets; he soon learns who feeds him, and is a 

 constant source of entertainment. 



The flight of the bat is the highest ideal we may have, for the achieve- 

 ment of the aeroplane. It consists of darting hither and thither with 

 incredible swiftness, and making sharp turns with no apparent effort. 

 Swifts and swallows are the only birds that can compete with the bat in 

 wing celerity and agility; it is interesting to note that these birds also 

 catch insects on the wing, for food. The bat, like the swift, keeps his 

 mouth open, scooping in all the insects in his way; more than this, he 

 makes a collecting net of the wing membrane, stretched between the hind 

 legs and tail, doubling it up like an apron on the unfortunate insects, and 

 then reaching down and gobbling them up; and thus he is always doing 

 good service to us on summer evenings by swallowing mosquitoes and 

 gnats. 



The short fur of the bat is as soft as silk, and covers the body but not 

 the wings; the plan of the wing is something like that of the duck's foot; 

 it consists of a web stretched between very much elongated fingers. If a 

 boy's fingers were as long in proportion, as a bat's, they would measure 

 four feet. Stretched between the long fingers is a thin, rubbery mem- 

 brane, which extends back to the ankles and thence back to the tip of the 

 bony tail; thus, the bat has a winged margin all around his body. Since 

 fingers make the framework, it is the thumb that projects from the front 

 angle of the wing, in the form of a very serviceable hook, resembling that 

 used by a one-armed man to replace the lost member. These hooks the 

 bat uses in many ways. He drags himself along the floor with their aid, 

 or he scratches the back of his head with them, if occasion requires. He 

 is essentially a creature of the air and is not at all fitted for walking; his 



