BIRD PARADISE 151 



creature used a particle of strength in making 

 the movement. He gave me a few moments of 

 his time, then darted away, his flight apparently 

 vieing with the sunbeam in the compassing of 

 distance. Think of it, the flight of this little 

 fellow, recording, one hundred miles an hour. 

 How does he command it, and how can he stop 

 when once passing at that rate of speed I 



All through the summer a pair of bats have 

 taken their evening pastime in the open reaches 

 of my lawn. Lately the young fellows have 

 joined in the outing so that five or six take their 

 evening meal and mingle socially, if that be pos- 

 sible, with these curious creatures. I have not 

 been able to discover their summer cottage, but 

 I am quite sure that it is located somewhere in 

 the attic of the old church. The bats are lovers 

 of darkness, but I have no knowledge that their 

 deeds are evil. Their time for work and play is 

 the early hours of the evening. During the day 

 and most of the hours of the night I rarely see 

 them. They move a little heavily on the wing 

 and seem to soon weary of their flight. The 

 young fellows must of necessity come shoi-t in 

 the daily bread, still they seem to thrive fairly 



