HAND-WINGED ANIMALS OR BATS 



31 



which animals are provided by nature with the means of earning 

 their hving. As the naturahst just quoted points out, he has 

 acute hearing, enabling him to distinguish the different tones 

 given out by the wood by his gentle tapping, he has evidently 

 a keen sense of smell to aid him in the search, his strong limbs 

 support him firmly on the slender branches to which he clings, 

 his sharp teeth permit him to tear through the tough wood, 

 and lastly, he uses his extraordinary second finger as a tapping 

 instrument, as a probe, and as a scoop. 



HAND-WINGED ANIMALS OR BATS 



The Bats have some habits in common with the lemurs, 

 although in appearance there is very little similarity between them. 



Long-eared Bat 



Both live on insects, fruit, and small animals of various kinds, and 

 do their hunting by night, though, owing to their curious flitting 

 movements, the former are looked upon with a certain amount of 

 fear by the more ignorant of their human neighbours. Like the 

 lemurs, the bat is also, as a rule, a very harmless animal, and it 



