66 Mammals of Eastern Asia 
Natives in northern Burma capture these animals by partially 
damming the brooks and setting wicker traps in the water-races 
formed in the beds of the lowered streams. 
THE BATS (ORDER CHIROPTERA) 
Bats are so commonly regarded with repugnance and loath- 
ing, and ladies are so persistently fearful that Bats may entangle 
themselves in their hair, that it is difficult to convince many folk 
that both the loathing and the fear, arising from the public's 
nearly total ignorance of Bats and their ways, are virtually 
groundless. Actually, the very numerous kinds of Bats of the 
world form one of the most interesting groups of mammals. 
Our slight acquaintance with them here in the United States is 
due at least partly to the comparatively few kinds found here, 
to their nocturnal habits, and the difficulty of catching them. 
Our almost ludicrous ignorance of the world of Bats was illus- 
trated in a recent question-and-answer broadcast over the radio : 
The people quizzed had to decide which of the three following 
statements was wrong — A pelican is a bird; a bat is a bird; an 
ostrich is a bird. Only after prolonged cogitation did the ques- 
tionees decide that a Bat was not a bird. 
Other people vaguely regard a Bat as a mouse with wings. 
They scarcely question how a mouse could possibly have 
acquired wings and remained a mouse. Even after granting 
that Bats are neither birds nor winged mice, some folk find it 
hard to realize that they are as much mammals, though very 
distinct and special kinds of mammals, as we ourselves are, and 
that they are built on the basic mammalian plan and behave in 
true mammalian ways. 
Bats alone among mammals have acquired the power of 
flight. Like birds they have become strongly modified in various 
ways that make flying and a whole array of attendant habits 
easier to perform. Certain parts of the body skeleton have ac- 
