CHAPTER X. 



THE BATS AND INSECT-EATING MAMMALS. 



BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S. 



THESE two groups are really closely allied ; biit the bats are generally considered apart, 

 on account of their totally different mode of life. Originally, like their more com- 

 monplace relatives, they were dwellers upon the earth, or, more correctly, among the 

 trees. By gradual modification of the fore limbs, and a corresponding development of folds of 

 skin attached thereto, and to the body, they have acquired the power of flight. The cobego, 

 to be mentioned presently, gives us a hint of how this may have come about. 



The bats are the only members of the Mammalia which possess the power of true flight. 

 The so-called flying-squirrels do not rightly deserve this title, for they have no wings. The 

 wings of the bat have been formed by modification of the fore limbs, the finger-bones having 

 become excessively lengthened, so as to serve as a support to a thin web of skin extending 

 outwards from the body, much as the ribs of an umbrella support the covering. The hand of 

 the bat is therefore a quite unique organ. 



Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S.} [Croydon 



AUSTRALIAN FRUIT-BAT, OR "FLYING-FOX" 



Ibis photograph shoios the "flying-fox " in its customary resting position. A photograph of it fying is shown on page v of Introduction 



165 



