3 i2 ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY AND ENTOMOLOGY 



the damage they do more than counterbalances the good. In 

 the fields and garden, however, they should be protected. 



The bats, order Chiroptera, differ from all other mammals in 

 having the fore limbs modified for flight by the elongation of 

 the forearms and especially of four of the fingers, all of which 

 are connected by a thin leathery membrane which includes also 

 the hind feet and usually the tail. Bats are chiefly nocturnal, 

 hanging head downward by their hind claws in caves, hollow 

 trees, or dark rooms through the day. They feed chiefly on 

 insects, although some foreign kinds live on fruits. There 

 are a dozen or more species of bats in North America, the most 

 abundant kinds in the Eastern States being the little brown 

 bat, Myotis subulatus, about three inches long with small 

 fox-like face, high slender ears, and a uniform dull olive-brown 

 color, and the red bat, Lasiurus borealis, nearly four inches long, 

 covered with long, silky, reddish-brown fur, mostly white at 

 tips of the hairs. Most of the bats are beneficial as they cap- 

 ture and destroy many insects, but a few exotic kinds feed on 

 fruit, and the large vampire bats suck the blood of other 

 animals. 



The order Ferce include all those animals usually called the 

 carnivora, such as the lions, tigers, cats, wolves, dogs, bears, 

 panthers, foxes, weasels, seals, etc. All of them feed chiefly on 

 animal substance and are predatory, pursuing and killing their 

 prey. They are mostly fur covered and many are hunted for 

 their skin. They have never less than four toes, which are 

 provided with strong claws that are frequently more or less 

 retractile. The canine teeth are usually large, curved, and 

 pointed. 



The FelidcB, or cat family, includes the lions, tigers, hyenas, 

 leopards, jaguars, panthers, wild cats, lynxes, and the common 

 domestic cat. The largest of them, the lions, occur in Central 

 Africa preying on any other animals that they can capture. 

 Inferior to lions in size but superior in strength are the Bengal 

 tigers that occur throughout the jungles of southern Asia. 

 Other smaller tigers occur in other parts of the Old World. 

 They often prey upon domestic animals and sometimes will 

 even attack man if enraged or driven by hunger. Indeed, there 



