Little Brown Bat 



peevishly as they endeavour to arrange themselves more com- 

 fortably for the remainder of their nap. But this activity may be 

 due to the increased irritability of the muscular fibre, which is 

 said to be an invariable accompaniment of hibernation. When I 

 tnrew open the blind last October, exposing them to the full glare 

 of the afternoon sunlight, they maintained the same position and 

 showed little sign of awakening, but half an hour later had 

 disappeared, though the sun was still several hours high. This 

 year the blinds were left open for the first part of the summer, 

 and the bats were obliged to look up new sleeping quarters. 

 In July I closed the blinds, hoping to entice the bats back to 

 their former apartments; and, sure enough, about the first of the 

 month I was delighted to see a solitary individual hanging by 

 his toes in one corner of the window fast asleep. Wishing to have 

 him pose as model for an illustration, I unceremoniously routed him 

 out and deposited him on my desk, where he spent a most un- 

 happy morning, losing all patience with me before the portrait 

 was half completed, which was hardly to be wondered at, con- 

 sidering the circumstances. As often as I tried to get him to 

 change his position, he would break forth into shrill stuttering 

 protests and snap viciously at everything within reach ; but he 

 soon quieted down on being left alone, and slept complacently 

 close to my hand while I sketched him. Several times he 

 escaped and flew deliberately downstairs, which I think few 

 birds would have the intelligence or coolness to do. All those 

 that I have seen in similar circumstances fluttered helplessly 

 against the glass or ceiling and absolutely refused to fly down- 

 ward under any provocation; but rny bat flew up or down with 

 equal willingness, and from room to room, earnestly searching 

 for a passage to the open air. Whenever he felt tired he would 

 hang himself up in the fold of a curtain to rest, apparently being 

 fast asleep as soon as he was fairly settled. Glass he soon 

 learned to avoid as slippery and treacherous; but the mosquito 

 screens furnished better foothold, and the way he would scuttle 

 about over these was something marvellous. Finally I carried him 

 outdoors and gave him his freedom, and, in spite of the sun, 

 he seemed to find no difficulty in seeing, but started directly for 

 the barn window, which was partly open, and entered it as 

 the swallows did. No one seeing him at the time could reason- 

 ably have accused him of blindness; nor did the term "blind as 



198 



