Parental and Early Instincts. 1 03 



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. 



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. 



