SOME INSECT EATERS 77 



modified for purposes of flight. Examining a skeleton of 

 a bat (Fig. 56), the so-called wings are seen to be mere 



Fig. 56. — Skeleton of a Bat. 



webs, connecting enormously developed fingers. This 

 web not only connects four long, attenuated fingers, but 

 connects the legs with the last finger, forming a perfect 

 parachute, or wing. The bats are all night lovers, sleep- 

 ing during the day, hidden away in caves and trees, and 

 coming out at the going down of the sun to feed upon the 

 wing, capturing innumerable gnats and moths to their taste. 

 Caves are particularly affected by the bats. Several are 

 known in the western country which have been used by 

 them for centuries, and at night the silent throng may be 

 seen coming out to spread over the country far and wide. 

 The flight of the bat is as silent as that of the owl, and 

 their sight, or something akin to it, is phenomenal. One 

 night when in the Sierra Madre, California, I felt a gentle 

 breeze playing over my face, and found that it was due to 

 the flight about the room of a very large bat, which swept 

 around in what to me was utter darkness, avoiding every 



