Zhc MinQ*Danbe6 Hnimals. 



THIRD ORDER: Chiroptera. 



EFORE the setting of the sun 

 on any beautiful summer day, 

 some members of this re- 

 'markable order of animals 

 begin their weird activity. 

 Out of crevices and dark 

 hollows creeps the strange, 

 gloomy army of Bats, which 

 has been hidden during the 

 day as if it had reasons of its 

 own for shunning the light, 

 and sets out on its nightly 

 travels. As the darkness be- 

 comes more dense the num- 

 ber of these enigmatical beings increases until at 

 midnight all have emerged and are flying hither and 

 thither through the air. 



Bats Inhabit The more closely we approach the tor- 

 Warm rid zone, the greater is the number of 

 Climates. Bats, and the richer their variety. The 

 South is the native country of the majority of Wing- 

 handed Animals. Even in Italy, Greece and Spain 

 the number of Bats is surprising. There, as even- 

 ing draws nigh, they come out of their nooks and 

 ■corners not by hundreds, 

 but by thousands. Out of |^H 

 ■every house, every old £z^ 

 stone wall, every rocky " 



liollow they flutter, as if a ~~^ 

 ;great army was preparing 

 ior a parade, and the en- 

 tire horizon is literally 

 filled with them. The 

 jswarms of Bats one sees 

 in a hot country are aston- 

 ishing. It is extremely 

 interesting to spend an 

 evening outside the gates 

 •of a city in the Orient 

 where the Bats literally 

 ■darken the sky. One soon 

 'Ceases to count them, for - 

 in every direction multi- 

 tudes are flutteringthrough 

 the air. /Everywhere there 

 is a living and moving 

 mass flying through the 

 trees of gardens and 

 groves, fluttering over the 

 fields, some low, ' others at 



Through the streets of the town, through houses and 

 rooms flits the moving train. Hundreds are con- 

 stantly appearing and disappearing and one is 

 ■always surrounded by a hovering swarm. 

 Ptincipal Characteris- The Wing-handed Animals are 

 tics oftfie Wing- mainly distinguished by their bod- 

 Handed Animals. \\y shape. Almost uniformly they 

 lave a " stocky " trunk, a short neck and a thick, ob- 

 long head, with a wide mouth. In general structure 



they correspond nearest with the Monkeys, and, like 

 the latter, have two mammae, but are totally differ- 

 ent in every other respect. Their hands have to 

 serve them as wings and are therefore enormously 

 enlarged, while the trunk is of small size. Thus 

 they give the impression of great size, while in 

 reality they are among the smallest of mammals. 

 The interior structure likewise shows characteristic 

 peculiarities. The skeleton is light, but strong, the 

 bones never contain air cavities, like those of birds. 

 The formation of their hands is most peculiar, the 

 arm, the fore-arm and the fingers being greatly elon- 

 gated, especially the last three fingers, which exceed 

 the arm in length. This arrangement renders them 

 fit for the attachment of the flying membrane, but 

 incapable of other service. The thumb, which stands 

 outside the membrane^ resembles the fingers of other 

 mammals ; it is short, has two joints, and is furnished 

 with a strong claw, which is supposed to do duty 

 for the whole hand in climbing and when the ani- 

 mal suspends itself. The thigh-bones are much 

 shorter and weaker than the bones of the arm, the 

 bones of the hinder limb in general being much in- 

 ferior to those of the fore-limb. Their formation is 



BABBASTELLE, OR PUG-DOG BAT. ^When the evening comes the Pug-Dog Bats flutter out in busy 



search forsmall Butterflies, upon which errand those in the picture are bent, their sharp eyes looking eagerly about 

 for these insects. They live in various parts of Europe and are numerous in the country of the Alps, where they 

 iiover about the edges of forests. {Synoius bariastellus.) 



a considerable height, regular ; the foot is divided into five toes, and these 



have claws. A striking peculiarity pertains to the 

 foot ; a bone projecting from the heel and called 

 the " spur." This bone is found only in Bats, and 

 is used to stretch the membrane between the leg 

 and the tail. The breast muscles are exceedingly 

 strong, and possess one muscle that is lacking in 

 other mammals, this being inserted into the back 

 of the head on one side and into the hand on the 

 other, serving to stretch the wings. The teeth re- 



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