MAMMALS. 37 



like the real ear. If kept in confinement this Bat will 

 eat bits of raw meat, and it is most interesting to watch 

 its motions. While eating it brings the wings forward 

 to cover the head. When about to fly it hangs head 

 downward, bends the head upward, unfolds the large 

 ears, then expands the wings and darts off. Its flight is 

 strong and rapid, and it can turn in the air with agility. 

 The ears are always expanded while on the wing, and 

 the membranes of both ears and wings are so sensitive 

 that Bats have been supposed to possess a sixth sense 

 enabling them to perceive the smallest object in the air 

 ahead of them. Their sense of smell is said to be very 

 acute, but it is unlikely that they are keen sighted, as 

 the eyes are small. Although Bats are able to fly like 

 Birds, the structure of the wings is very different. 

 There are no feathers, but a thin flexible membrane 

 consisting of two layers of skin stretched out upon the 

 three elongated joints of the four fingers and continued 

 along the arm and sides of the body to the hind limbs and 

 tail. The thumb is short and terminates in a sharp curved 

 claw, but the fingers are clawless. The hind limbs are 

 short, and the knees directed outwards instead of forwards. 

 To fold the wings the fingers are brought close together 

 and laid backwards along the side of the body, and in 

 this position the thumb with its claw projects forward 

 below the head. If the Bat is on the ground it stands 

 on its thumbs and hind feet, and its method of walking 

 is by a kind of shuffle, dragging forward first one side 

 and then the other by fixing the thumb-claw into any 

 roughness of the surface over which it is travelling. It 

 moves more easily this way upwards than on a horizontal 

 surface, but when it reaches a place where it wishes to 



