THE SEVEN SLEEPERS 207 
will hear absolutely nothing. A hoary bat, the larg- 
est of all the family, has been seen to overtake 
and fly past a flock of migrating swallows, while 
a red bat has been watched carrying four young 
clinging to her, which together weighed more than 
she did, and yet she flew and hunted and captured 
insects in mid-air as usual. There is no bird which 
can give such an exhibition of strong flying. The 
hoary bat has even been found on the Bermuda 
Islands in autumn and early winter. As these islands 
are five hundred and forty storm-swept miles from 
the nearest land, this is evidence of an extraordi- 
narily high grade of wing-power. 
When it comes to personal habits, bats of all kinds 
are perhaps the most useful mammals that we have. 
No American bat eats anything but insects, and in- 
sects of the most disagreeable kind, such as cock- 
roaches, mosquitoes, and June-bugs. A house-bat 
has been seen to eat twenty-one June-bugs in a single 
night; while another young bat would eat from 
thirty-four to thirty-seven cockroaches in the same 
time, beginning this commendable work before it was 
two months old. Moreover, bats do not bring into 
houses any noxious insects, like bedbugs or lice, de- 
spite their bad reputation. They are unfortunately 
afflicted with numerous parasites, but none of them 
are of a kind to attack man. All bats are great 
drinkers, and twice a day skim over the nearest 
water, drinking copiously on the wing. Sometimes, 
where trout are large enough, bats fall victims to 
their drinking habits, being seized on the wing like 
