QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED 



159 



humming-birds. From the bats of the United States, there 

 is nothing to fear, for their claws and teeth are pitifully weak. 

 One cross old "bumblebee," angrily bumbling, is more dan- 

 gerous to a peaceful community than all the bats of our 

 country taken together. In some portions of South America, 

 however, the vampire bats cause serious trouble. 



Little is known concerning the habits of bats, and much 

 remains to be found out. These creatures are therefore ex- 

 cellent subjects for 

 original investigation. 



The Order of Bats 

 as a whole contains 

 about four hundred 

 and fifty species, but 

 it is safe to say that 

 three-fourths of them 

 are known only by 

 their dry skins and 

 skulls, and that their habits are quite unknown. The ques- 

 tions are, — Why do bats live? Upon what do they feed? 

 Are they useful to man, or injurious? What are their friends 

 and their enemies? Do they migrate, and at what times? 

 Where do they nest, or take shelter; and what are the facts 

 about their young? What parasites and diseases have they? 



Although the bat is a true mammal, it is almost as wide 

 a departure from the ordinary, four-legged, land-going type 

 as is a whale or manatee. Its hand reveals an extreme de- 

 gree of what is called "specialization." For a mammal, the 

 arms are of great length. The bones of the fingers are enor- 



SKELETON OF PALE BAT. 



Antrozous pallidus. 



