Zhc WLinQ *1Danbefc Hnimals. 



THIRD ORDER: Chiroptera. 



EFORE the setting of the sun 

 on any beautiful summer day, 

 some members of this re- 

 markable order of animals 

 begin their weird activity. 

 Out of crevices and dark 

 hollows creeps the strange, 

 gloomy army of Bats, which 

 has been hidden during the 

 kday as if it had reasons of its 

 "own for shunning the light, 

 and sets out on its nightly 

 travels. As the darkness be- 

 comes more dense the num- 

 ber of these enigmatical beings increases until at 

 midnight all have emerged and are flying hither and 

 thither through the air. 

 Bats Inhabit The more closely we approach the tor- 

 Warm rid zone, the greater is the number of 

 Climates. Bats, and the richer their variety. The 

 South is the native country of the majority of Wing- 

 handed Animals. Even in Italy, Greece and Spain 

 the number of Bats is surprising. There, as even- 

 ing draws nigh, they come out of their nooks and 

 corners not by hundreds, 

 but by thousands. Out of 

 every house, every old 

 stone wall, every rocky 

 hollow they flutter, as if a 

 great army was preparing 

 for a parade, and the en- 

 tire horizon is literally 

 filled with them. The 

 swarms of Bats one sees 

 in a hot country are aston- 

 ishing. It is extremely 

 interesting to spend an 

 evening outside the gates 

 of a city in the Orient 

 where the Bats literally 

 darken the sky. One soon 

 ceases to count them, for 

 in every direction multi- 

 tudes are flutteringthrough 

 the air. Everywhere there 

 is a living and moving 

 mass flying through the 

 trees of gardens and 

 groves, fluttering over the 



fields, some low, others at a considerable height. 

 Through the streets of the town, through houses and 

 rooms flits the moving train. Hundreds are con- 

 stantly appearing and disappearing and one is 

 always surrounded by a hovering swarm. 

 Principal Characteris- The Wing-handed Animals are 

 tics of the Wing- mainly distinguished by their bod- 

 Handed Animals. \\y shape. Almost uniformly they 

 have a " stocky " trunk, a short neck and a thick, ob- 

 long head, with a wide mouth. In general structure 



they correspond nearest with the Monkeys, and, like 

 the latter, have two mammae, but are totally differ- 

 ent in every other respect. Their hands have to 

 serve them as wings and are therefore enormously 

 enlarged, while the trunk is of small size. Thus 

 they give the impression of great size, while in 

 reality they are among the smallest of mammals. 

 The interior structure likewise shows characteristic 

 peculiarities. The skeleton is light, but strong, the 

 bones never contain air cavities, like those of birds. 

 The formation of their hands is most peculiar, the 

 arm, the fore-arm and the fingers being greatly elon- 

 gated, especially the last three fingers, which exceed 

 the arm in length. This arrangement renders them 

 fit for the attachment of the flying membrane, but 

 incapable of other service. The thumb, which stands 

 outside the membrane, resembles the fingers of other 

 mammals ; it is short, has two joints, and is furnished 

 with a strong claw, which is supposed to do duty 

 for the whole hand in climbing and when the ani- 

 mal suspends itself. The thigh-bones are much 

 shorter and weaker than the bones of the arm, the 

 bones of the hinder limb in general being much in- 

 ferior to those of the fore-limb. Their formation is 



B^BBASTELLE, OK PUG-DOG BAT. When the evening comes the Pug-Dog Bats flutter out in busy 



search forsmall Butterflies, upon which errand those in the picture are bent, their sharp eyes looking eagerly about 

 They live in various parts of Europe and are numerous in the country of the Alps, where they 



for these insects. 



hover about the edges of forests. 



(Sytwtus barbastellus.) 



regular ; the foot is divided into five toes, and these 

 have claws. A striking peculiarity pertains to the 

 foot : a bone projecting from the heel and called 

 the "spur." This bone is found only in Bats, and 

 is used to stretch the membrane between the leg 

 and the tail. The breast muscles are exceedingly 

 strong, and possess one muscle that is lacking in 

 other mammals, this being inserted into the back 

 of the head on one side and into the hand on the 

 other, serving to stretch the wings. The teeth re- 



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