422 



PRACTICAL ZOOLOGY 



Fig. 287. A bat in a sleeping position, 

 by Brownell.) 



(Photo. 



Bats. — The bats 

 are easily distin- 

 guished from other 

 mammals by the mod- 

 ification of their fore 

 limbs for flight. The 

 fore arm and fingers 

 are elongated and 

 connected with each 

 other and with the 

 hind feet, and usually 

 the tail, by a thin 

 leathery membrane. 



Because of their remarkable powers of locomotion bats are 



very widely distributed, occurring on small islands devoid of 



other mammals. Most of them are small and chiefly nocturnal. 



During the day they go into retirement and hang head down- 

 ward suspended by the claws 



of one or both legs (Fig. 



2S7). At night bats fly 



about actively in search of 



insects. Some of them live 



on fruit, and a few suck the 



blood of other mammals. 

 The largest of the bats 



are the flying " foxes," one 



species of which has a wing 



expanse of five feet and a 



body one foot in length (Fig. 



288). The fruit bats feed 



on fruit, especially figs and 



guava, and move about in 



companies. The brown bat 



is a common species inhabit- 



FlG. 288. — A flying " fox. 

 ing the United States. The Dept. of Agric.) 



