OKDER IV. INSECTIVORA. 43 



keeper. I have known a gray squirrel to really pine for mv coinpaiiy after 

 having been in my possession but a few days, and have known a Hyin"-- 

 squirrel to recognize its keeper, and approach hini with manifestations of 

 plea.sure, at the fiftli or sixth day after capture ; but tiie l)ats seem to have 

 but little preference for any person or tiling, and are as well contented in 

 the possession of one person, or in one home, as another. 



Our bats are all insectivorous, and also nocturnal in hai)its. 



If we take our position in the neighl)orhood of an old, ruined dwelling, or 

 the dilapidated w.alls of a church, or the rocky fastnesses of a cave, at the 

 approach of dark, we see great numlicrs of tiicsc animals issuing forth from 

 tlicsc retreats, and soon busying themselves in tlie pursuit (if their insect 

 prey. Xot a moth or beetle shows itself winging its flight throur;h the 

 air, seeking a safe and suitable place for the deposit of its eggs, the germs 

 of future noxious Iiroods, but, as quick as tluiuglit, a l.mt seizes it, and 

 soon the morsel is appropriated to its never-satisfied appetite. 



In a short time the insects near the sin-face of tiie eartii are captured, and 

 tlic bats take wider and higher circles in tlie pursuit of tlu-ir jircv. Silently 

 they labor ; their wings make no sound u[)on the air ; tlieir voices are 

 hushed ; but they arc all the more busy, and for the benefit of man, too, 

 their greatest enemy. ^lultiply the myriads of injurious insects each Ijat 

 kills in the hours of a single night, by the myriads of bats thus employed, 

 and we can see at a glance the pm-pose for whicii they are intended by 

 the Creator. 



ORDER IV. INSECTIVORA (Insect-Eaters). 



The Bats terminated the Orders of Mammalians which have the mammjii 

 or teats upon the breast. In those that follow they are abdominal. In com- 

 mon, howe\er, with the (Jhctropteru, tlie Insectivora have their grinders 

 entirely covered witli conical points, are nocturnal in their habits, or bur- 

 row in the earth ; subsist on worms, insects, and larva\ and jiass the winter 

 in a state of lethargy. Tiiey have no lateral memliranes, but tiic clavicles 

 are always present. They are gencraWy p/untir/rade, i. e., jilace tlic whole 

 bottom of the foot upon the ground while running, and have mostly an 

 elong.atcd muzzle. 



Tins Order of animals has been variously arranged by naturalists, but we 

 have preferred, for the sake of convenience, to divide it into three fami- 

 lies, — the TdJpkhv, or Moles ; the iSoricidui, or Shrews ; the Eriaactidai, 

 or Hedgehogs. 



