THE SEVEN SLEEPERS 207 



will hear absolutely nothing. A hoary bat, the larg- 

 est of all the family, has been seen to overtake 

 and fly past a flock of migrating swallows, while 

 a red bat has been watched carrying four young 

 clinging to her, which together weighed more than 

 she did, and yet she flew and hunted and captured 

 insects in mid-air as usual. There is no bird which 

 can give such an exhibition of strong flying. The 

 hoary bat has even been found on the Bermuda 

 Islands in autumn and early winter. As these islands 

 are five hundred and forty storm-swept miles from 

 the nearest land, this is evidence of an extraordi- 

 narily high grade of wing-power. 



When it comes to personal habits, bats of all kinds 

 are perhaps the most useful mammals that we have. 

 No American bat eats anything but insects, and in- 

 sects of the most disagreeable kind, such as cock- 

 roaches, mosquitoes, and June-bugs. A house-bat 

 has been seen to eat twenty-one June-bugs in a single 

 night; while another young bat would eat from 

 thirty-four to thirty-seven cockroaches in the same 

 time, beginning this commendable work before it was 

 two months old. Moreover, bats do not bring into 

 houses any noxious insects, like bedbugs or lice, de- 

 spite their bad reputation. They are unfortunately 

 afflicted with numerous parasites, but none of them 

 are of a kind to attack man. All bats are great 

 drinkers, and twice a day skim over the nearest 

 water, drinking copiously on the wing. Sometimes, 

 where trout are large enough, bats fall victims to 

 their drinking habits, being seized on the wing like 



