CHAPTER VI 



THE ORDER OF BATS 



CHIROPTERA 



The strange wing-handed, fljang mammals 

 composing this Order exhibit differences in 

 form that are fairly bewildering. They range 

 all the wa}' from the beautiful to the fantastic 

 and the hideous, and some of them are well 

 worthy of study. 



members of the Bat Order as a whole are almost 

 as little known as the whales and porpoises of 

 the deep sea. Our lack of acquaintance with 

 bats is due chiefly to their nocturnal habits, 

 and the consequent difficulty in observing them. 

 To-day, bats are so little known that there are 



Drawn by J. C' 



ribi: I'.L \i:ij. From a specimen in tlie Philadelpliia Academy of ^ciencey. 



BORNBAN NAKED BAT. 

 The young are carried in two dorsal pouches, from one of which, under the left elbow, a small head protrudes. 



The great majority of bats are useful to man 

 in destroying the insects which, without the 

 aid of the birds and beasts, very soon would over- 

 whelm him. The harmful species are those 

 which destroy fruit, and a few which suck the 

 blood of domestic animals. 



Owing to certain natural conditions, the 



perhaps a million persons who only know that 

 they fly at night, and are "awful things to get 

 into your hair." 



I have seen thousands of bats, flying in many 

 different places, but never yet saw one alight 

 upon a woman's hair; and I believe they are no 

 more given to doing so than are humming-birds. 



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