JBarn 



creatures, in spite of what a hypocritical Yankee 

 once said about them. To the naturalist, of course, 

 these animals are interesting, and yet, strange to 

 say, those who have studied them closely have 

 not given us many particulars as to their habits. 

 A beautiful monograph on the group by a promi- 

 nent zoologist gives every anatomical detail, but so 

 little about the creature's ways and doings. Pos- 

 sibly did we know them better we might love 

 them more. There is, however, one good word to 

 be said for all our bats; every popular adverse im- 

 pression concerning them is false : they will not 

 tangle a lady's hair, nor do they bring sleep's 

 deadly foe into the house. 



It would require a small volume to tell how 

 plant-life was utilizing the old barn. Gray lichen 

 and green moss were both upon the roof. Vir- 

 ginia creeper, on the west, and a trumpet-vine on 

 the east, had such firm hold on many of the broad, 

 upright boards that they had been warped from 

 their original support and were now held by the 

 rank vines ; one of these had ruddy foliage al- 

 ready, and the other, still in bloom, proved an 

 attraction for the restless humming-birds that 

 came and went continually. A poison-ivy clung 

 to the hinges of the large double doors, com- 

 pletely concealing them. Pokeberry canes were 

 clustered outside, ruddy and vigorous as a sum- 

 mer sun could make them ; while a score of sickly, 

 yellow-white shoots, which had thrust themselves 

 163 



