Parental and Early Instincts. 103 
wonderful to me that she should have been able to 
earry about that great burden with her one pair of 
wings, and withal to be active enough to supply 
herself and her young with food. 
In the end I released her, and saw her fly away 
and disappear among the trees, after which I put 
back the two young bats in the place I had taken 
them from, among the thick-clustering foliage of a 
small acacia tree. When set free they began to 
work their way upwards through the leaves and 
slender twigs in the most adroit manner, catching 
a twig with their teeth, then embracing a whole 
cluster of leaves with their wings, just as a person 
would take up a quantity of loose clothes and hold 
them tight by pressing them against the chest. 
The body would then emerge above the clasped 
leaves, and a higher twig would be caught by the 
teeth ; and so on successively, until they had got 
as high as they wished, when they proceeded to 
hook themselves to a twig and assume the inverted 
position side by side; after which, one drew in its 
head and went to sleep, while the other began 
licking the end of its wing, where my finger and 
thumb had pressed the delicate membrane. Later 
in the day I attempted to feed them with small 
insects, but they rejected my friendly attentions in 
the most unmistakable manner, snapping viciously 
at me every time I approached them. In the 
evening, I stationed myself close to the tree, and 
presently had the satisfaction of seeing the mother 
return, flying straight to the spot where I had 
taken her, and in a few moments she was away 
again and over the trees with her twins. 
