Mammal Study 245 



recover speedily; and these bats do little damage to people, although 

 they sometimes pester animals; but there are no vampires in the United 

 States. Our bats, on the contrary, are innocent and beneficial to man; 

 and if we had more of them we should have less malaria. There a few 

 species in our country, which have httle, leaf-hke growths on the end of 

 the nose; and when scientists study the bat from a nature-study 

 instead of an anatomical standpoint, we shall know what these leafy 

 appendages are used for. 



The little brown bat. 



LESSON LIX 

 The Bat 



Leading thought — -Although the bat's wings are very different from 

 those of the bird's yet it is a rapid and agile flier. It flies in the dusk and 

 catches great numbers of mosquitoes and other troublesome insects, upon 

 which it feeds. 



Method — This lesson should not be given unless there is a live bat to 

 illustrate it; the little creature can be cared for comfortably in a cage in 

 the schoolroom, as it will soon learn to take flies or bits of raw meat when 

 presented on the point of a pencil or toothpick. Any bat will do for this 

 study, although the little brown bat is the one on which my observations 

 were made. 



Observations — i . At what time of day do we see bats flying? Describe 

 how the bat's flight differs from that of birds. Why do bats dart about 

 so rapidly? 



2. Look at a captive bat and describe its wings. Can you see what 

 makes the framework of the wings ? Do you see the three finger bones 

 extending out into the wings? How do the hind legs support the wing? 

 The tail? Is the wing membrane covered with fur? Is it thick and 

 leathery or thin and silky and elastic? How does the bat fold up its 

 wings ? 



3. In what position does the bat rest? Does it ever hang by his 

 thumb hooks? 



4. Can you see whether the knees of the hind legs bend upward or 

 downward? How does the bat act when trying to walk or crawl? How 

 does it use its thumb hooks in doing this? 



5. What does the bat do daytimes? Where does it stay during the 

 day? Do many bats congregate together in their roosts? 



