246 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 





YOUTH IN BAT LAND. 



ceiling, one of the little ones left her care 

 and swung out on the wire. I coaxed the 

 little one to cling to a penholder and took 

 it back to the yardstick for a portrait of 

 which I made several, some life-size and 

 some even larger. Meanwhile the mother 

 was on the wing again and when she 

 alighted, it was on a towel. I returned 

 the little one to her, and she made every 

 effort to coax it back beneath her wings, 

 using the 'thumb" hook in aiding it. 



A little later she was again in flight, 

 and I found that she had left both little 

 ones clinging to the towel. She would 

 fly systematically behind a counter, 

 through the main aisle, and behind the 

 other counter, flying low and apparently 

 seeking a way of escape. It was so late 

 that I could not remain longer, and 

 trusting to her ability to get back to the 

 little ones when she chose to do so, I went 

 home. 



Next 



morning 



I found the little ones 



just where they had been the night be- 

 fore, and though I searched faithfully I 

 could find no trace of her, and concluded 

 that she had willfully deserted them, till 

 I found her two days later, weak and 

 unable to fly. She evidently had not been 

 able to get back to them. I chloroformed 

 her, as I had the little ones earlier. 



I measured the spread of her wings 

 and found it was twelve inches, and 

 noting how light she seemed, I placed her 

 on the scales and found she weighed but 

 an even half ounce. It did not occur to 

 me to weigh the little ones till long after- 

 terwards. A man weighing one hundred 

 and sixty-five pounds, if he had wings in 

 proportion to those of the bats, would 

 have a wing expanse of fully a mile ! 



I had no means of identifying the bat, 

 but I noticed that the hair was surpris- 

 ingly light colored, in shades of tan, 

 and there appeared to be a sort of "ruf- 

 fle" of longer hair about the neck. 



THE FAITHFUL MOTHER BAT. 



