HABITS OF BATS 



61 



says, of the thousands that inhabit Mammoth 

 Cave, " they fly readily if disturbed in summer, 

 but in winter they hang apparently dead. If 

 disturbed, a few respiratory movements may 

 be seen, and they may utter a few squeaks, 

 when they again remain apparently lifeless. If 

 knocked from the roof some of them fall to the 

 bottom of the cave and flap about, others fly 

 away. I have seen them leave a cave in mid- 

 winter, after being disturbed, but fly no further 

 than a hundred yards, then turn and enter the 

 cave again." 



In central Montana, where there are no trees, 

 I once found a large colony of bats inhabiting a 

 cave that a subterranean stream had washed 

 under the prairie. In Arizona there is a cave 

 which is said to contain " a million " bats. Once 

 while hunting elephants in the Malay Peninsula, 

 the attention of my companion and myself was 

 arrested by a strange, pungent odor which filled 

 the air. Upon investigating the cause of it, we 

 discovered a large eave of a very interesting 

 character, inhabited by thousands of bats, and 

 floored with a layer of bat guano a foot or more 

 in depth, representing the accumulation of a 

 century. 



In warm countries, bats inhabit hollow trees. 

 But do they inhabit such homes, and actually 

 hibernate in them in winter, in the temperate 

 zone? On this point, direct evidence is desirable. 

 Dr. C. Hart Merriam has proved that some bats 

 of the North American temperate zone do mi- 



grate, as birds do, going south in winter and re- 

 turning in spring. 



The conditions of wild life in the temperate 

 zone are rather unfavorable to the development 

 of large bats, and for this reason none of the 

 bats of the United States are of large size or com- 

 manding importance. The large fruit-bats, or 

 "flying foxes," can exist only where they can 

 procure a good supply of fruit all the year round ; 

 and for this reason they are mainly confined to 

 the tropics. During our northern winter, a true 

 vampire bat could indeed prey upon the blood of 

 domestic animals; but in zero weather, the naked 

 wings of such a creature would freeze stiff in a 

 very few moments. The large vampire bat of 

 India, for some reason called the "false" vam- 

 pire (Meg-a-der'ma ly'ra), which devours small 

 frogs, fishes, small birds, and even bats smaller 

 than itself, could live in our southern and 

 southwestern states, but it would be impos- 

 sible for it to go far north of the frost line. 

 All bats inhabiting the colder regions of the 

 temperate zone, within the snow limit, must 

 either hibernate in winter, without food, or 

 migrate. 



Owing to the great number of species of bats, 

 and of the many groups into which they have 

 been divided, it is desirable to mention here only 

 a few examples with which every intelligent 

 person should be acquainted. 



The bats have been divided by Nature into 

 two Suborders, and six Families, as follows : 



SUBORDERS. 



< 



w 



h 



Oh 



o 



X 

 u 



M 

 W 

 Q 

 « 

 O 



Insect-Eating 

 Bats: 



Mi-cro-chi-rop'- 

 ter-a. 



Fruit-Eating 

 Bats: 



Meg-a-chi-rop'- 

 ter-a. 



THE ORDER OF BATS 



Leaf-Nosed Bats, . phyl-los-to-mat'I-dae . 



Free-Tailed Bats, em-bal-lo-nu'ri-dae. 



Common Bats, . 



False Vampires, 

 Horseshoe Bats, 



Flying Foxes, . 



VES-PER-TIL-I-ON'I-DAE . 



MEG-A-DER-MAT'I-DAE, . 

 RHI-NO-LOPH'I-DAE, . . 



PTER-O-POiyi-DAE, . . 



EXAMPLES. 



Leaf -Nosed Bat. 

 Blainville's Bat. 

 Javelin Bat. 

 f Great Vampire. 



I Bonneted Bat. 

 i Naked Bat. 



i Red Bat. 



> Gray Bat. 



( Big-Eared Bat. 



False Vampire. 



C Flying Fox. 



< Hammer-Headed 



( Bat. 



