TOADS, BATS AND OWLS 101 



instant an insect alights or falls near the toad it is 

 gone as if by magic, and that the toad sits there 

 swallowing something. 



While the toad sits so quietly under the light 

 catching the insects that come near him, another 

 little night-hunter is busy flying round and round 

 the light, swallowing whole mouthfuls of insects as he 

 goes. He is an odd-looking fellow. He has wings and 

 he seems to fly like a bird. Yet he is not a bird for 

 he has no feathers upon his wings or his body. His 

 wing{^ are very long and narrow and he scarcely seems 

 to move them as he goes around in swift circles. His 

 body is thick and short. It is covered with soft, silky, 

 olive-brown fur like that of a mouse. His tiny face 

 looks almost like that of a fox, with its bright eyes 

 and long, erect ears. His mouth, which he holds 

 open, is full of sharp teeth. 



The English call this little night creature a ^'flitter- 

 mouse," but ''the little brown bat" is our name for it. 



Have any of you ever seen a bat? Have you 

 stroked its soft, silky fur, looked at its bright eyes, 

 its snub nose and funny ears? 



These little bats sleep during the day as the toads 

 do, only instead of digging themselves backwards into 

 a hole for their nap, they hang themselves upside 

 down by their feet in some dark place. They like to 

 hang under bridges or in the lofts of barns or even 

 in chimneys. Sometimes they come down the chimney 

 and fly about the room. 



The best place to see bats is near an electric street 

 light. We could almost call it a Maypole dance of 

 little creatures that goes on during warm June and 



