ORDERS OF MAMMALIA. 353 



true Birds. The tail is sometimes very short, sometimes moderately 

 long, and is usually included in a continuation of the patagium, 

 which extends between the hind-legs. The body is covered with 

 hair, but the patagium is usually nearly or quite hairless. Most of 

 the Bats hibernate. 



The Cheiroptera are conveniently divided into the two sections of 

 the Insectivorous and Frugivorous Bats. In the first section are 

 all the smaller Bats, which universally live upon insects. In this 

 section we must also place the Vampire Bats, which are of compara- 

 tively large size, and some of which have the habit of sucking the 

 blood of sleeping animals. In the second, or fruit-eating section of 

 the Cheiroptera are only the Fox-bats {Pteropidce), which are e.speci- 

 ally characteristic of the Pacific Archipelago, inhabiting Australia, 

 Java, Sumatra, Borneo, &c., but occurring also in Asia and Africa. 

 They are amongst the largest of the Bats, one species — the Pteropus 

 edulis or Kalong — attaining a length of from four to five feet from 

 the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 



Order XV. Insectivora. 



The next order of Mammals is that of the Insectivora, which com- 

 prises a number of small animals, very similar in many respects to the 

 Rodents, but wanting the peculiar incisors of that order, and also 

 being provided with clavicles. All the three kinds of teeth are 

 present, but the dentition is very various, and the only common 



Fig. 258.— Skull of the common Hedgehog {Erinaceus Europceus). 



character is, that the crowns of the molar teeth (fig. 258) are fur- 

 nished with small pointed eminences or cusps, adapted for ci'ushing 

 insects. All the toes have claws ; there are usually five toes to each 

 foot, and most of the Insectivora are plantigrade — that is to say, 

 walk upon the soles of the feet. They are all small, and they exist 



