8 CRY OF THE BAT. 



wrong to suppose that, because we should be miser- 

 able if we led the life of a vulture, or a sloth, or a bat, 

 therefore those creatures are miserable. In truth, 

 the vulture is attracted to, and feels its greatest gra- 

 tification in, those substances which would drive as 

 away with averted eyes and stopped nostrils. The 

 sloth is, on the authority of Waterton, quite a jovial 

 beast, and anything but slothful when in his proper 

 place ; and as for the bat, it sings for very joy. True, 

 tbe song is not very melodious, neither is that of the 

 swift, or the peacock, nor, perhaps, that of the 

 Cochin- China fowl, but it is nevertheless a song 

 from the abundance of the heart. 



There are many human ears that are absolutely in- 

 capable of perceiving the cry of the bat, so keen and 

 sharp is the note ; a very razors-edge of sound. 



More than once I have been standing in a field 

 over which bats were flying in multitudes, filling the 

 air almost oppressively with their sharp needle-like 

 cries. Yet my companion, who was a musician, 

 theoretically and practically, was unable to hear a 

 sound, and could not for some time believe me when 

 I spoke of the noisy little creatures above. 



The sound bears some resemblance to that pro- 

 duced by a slate-pencil when held perpendicularly in 

 writing on the slate, only the bat's cry is several 

 octaves more acute. I never but once heard the 

 sound correctly imitated, and that was done by a 

 graceless urchin, daring a long sermon one Sunday 



