4 86 ANIMAL LIFE-HISTORIES 



as the offspring of that animal. In the majority of cases the 

 first act of a newly-born Bat is to crawl along the body of its 

 mother till the source of nourishment is reached. The devoted 

 parent carries her progeny about with her for a considerable 

 time, but the power of holding on is so well developed that 

 infant mortality is thereby obviated, so far as accidental death 

 from falling is concerned. 



Hudson (in The Naturalist in La Plata) gives the following 

 interesting details regarding this habit of carrying about the 

 young: "While taking Bats one day in December, I captured 

 a female of our common Buenos Ayrean species (Molossus 

 Bonariensis), with her two young attached to her, so large that 

 it seemed incredible she should be able to fly and take insects 

 with such a weight to drag her down. The young were about a 

 third less in size than the mother, so that she could carry a weight 

 greatly exceeding that of her own body. They were fastened to 

 her breast and belly, one on each side, as when first born; and 

 possibly the young bat does not change its position, or move, like 

 the young developed opossum, to other parts of the body, until 

 mature enough to begin an independent life. On forcibly separ- 

 ating them from their parent, I found that they were not yet able 

 to fly, but when set free fluttered feebly to the ground. This bat 

 certainly appeared more burdened with its young than any 

 animal I had ever observed. . . . The poor bat had to seek 

 its living in the empty air, pursuing its prey with the swiftness 

 of a swallow, and it seemed wonderful to me that she should 

 have been able to carry about that great burden with her one 

 pair of wings, and withal to be active enough to supply herself 

 and her young with food." This mother-bat was released, and 

 the young ones were found to be already expert climbers; 

 their disposition was decidedly vicious. Maternal affection must 

 have been strongly developed in this instance, and it is gratifying 

 to read the following statement of what happened after the lapse 

 of some hours: "In the evening I placed myself close to the 

 tree [from which the young were taken and to which they had 

 been restored], 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 ". 



HOOFED MAMMALS (UNGULATA). We have seen that the 



