NATURAL HISTORY. 63 



" In chinks and holes 

 Ten thousand seek an unmolested end 

 As instinct prompts, self-buried ere they die." COWPEH. 



precision. The extreme sensibility to light and touch is shown by 

 bats even in their dormant state. Be their torpidity ever so 

 great, they shrink from the touch, even before actual contact, and 

 appear disturbed at the presence of a candle, or any other light. 



189. Why do bats fly by night ? 



Because they feed upon night-flying insects. Hence they take 

 the place by night which the swallow occupies by day. Some of 

 the species occasionally fly by day, but that habit is by no means 

 common, and is confined to some of the foreign bats, which are 

 vegetable feeders. 



190. Bats issue forth as darkness begins, and hy their active flight capture sucli 

 insects as are then on the wing gnats, mosquitoes, moths, beetles, &c., and their 

 wide gape with its formidable teeth is an excellent trap for the capture of such 

 prey. The service which they render to vegetation, by the destruction of insects 

 which in the larva state prey upon it, is very considerable, even in temperate 

 climates ; and some of the hot countries in which they swarm by myriads could not 

 but for them be inhabited. In humid places on the margins of tropical forests, 

 mosquitoes are troublesome enough as it is ; but if the bats did not thin their 

 numbers they would be utterly unbearable. Those species, too, which frequent the 

 towns and settlements are useful in other respects. Most of the race are miscel- 

 laneous hi their feeding, and not very delicate in their taste. They devour 

 indiscriminately all animal substances, whether raw or dressed, and whether in a 

 recent or putrid state. 



191. Why do bats hybernate during the winter months ? 

 Because, as they feed chiefly upon insects, their supply of food 



fails as the winter approaches, and their office in the great scheme 

 ot nature can no longer be fulfilled. Therefore, as the time when, 

 for the same causes, the swalloiv departs for a sunnier clime where 

 insect food may be found, the bat retires into its hiding places, and 

 sleeps away the months of winter. 



SUB-ORDER II. INSECTIYORA. 



192. WJiy is the second sub-order of Carnaria called 

 Tnsectivora ? 



Because they live principally, if not wholly, upon insects. The 

 name is derived from two Latin words insecta, insects, and voro, 

 to devour. 



