The Chorus of the Forest 



wonderful little creature, half bird, half beast. 

 The j)oet Street wrote of it as "a wavering, sound- 

 less blot." A bat in the face is considered just 

 and sufficient cause for convulsions, yet the worst 

 that possibly could result from it A^'ould be a tiny 

 scratch of a bite, not nearly so annoying as that 

 of a mos<iuito. 



Once 1 had a face-to-face acquaintance with a 

 mother bat whose body bore the weight of three 

 young that nursed at her breast and clung to her Bat 

 while they slejjt. She had a very small face, ^'°s- 

 shaped like that of a yoimg pig, except that the 

 ears were round instead of j^ointed. Tlie male 

 must have carried food, or else enough insects to 

 sustain life flew her way, for she could not carry 

 her burden on wing. With the exception of flight, 

 I could not discover one attril)ute or characteristic 

 of the feathered tribe. Her ■\vings were not in 

 the least birdlike. They resembled the half of a 

 spread umbrella having a tliin rubber cover. Each 

 wing represented fom- rilis and three sections of 

 cover, and these ribs centered in a joint like the 

 long, bony fingers of a hand, witli a little sharp 

 hook of a thuml:), by -\\hich the bat clung and 

 helped bear her weight. She slept head down and 

 Mas liveliest at night. ITer fur was silken soft 

 and fine, and of beautiful red-brown color. When 

 fed milk M'ith a small wooden paddle I could see 

 her fine sharp teeth, but she did not offer to bite. 



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