THE LITTLE BROWN BAT 
‘ HEN a bat is first captured, it is so 
WW excited and snappy that courage is 
*” required to handle it for it can in- 
flict quite severe wounds. But it 
readily responds to kind treatment 
and soon learns to take food from the hand of its 
master or mistress. 
The bat has perhaps the most wonderful wings of 
all winged creatures, for they consist of a thin 
membrane spread over the fingers to the arms and 
back along the sides to the hind legs, and from the 
hind legs to the tail. This membrane is filled with 
sensitive nerves, which informs the swift flyer of the 
objects in its path, so that it is able to dart among 
the branches of trees in the night at terrific speed, 
never touching a twig. Its flight is the highest ideal 
we may entertain for the achievement of the aero- 
plane. The bat as it darts about keeps its mouth 
open, and scoops in all the insects that it overtakes. 
During the winter, bats hibernate, like the wood- 
chucks. They-select for the winter some hollow tree 
or protected place, there they hang themselves up by 
the front feet or hind feet, and go to sleep and do 
not awake until the insects begin flying the next 
spring. 
The little bats are born in July, and usually occur 
as twins. The mother feeds her little ones from her 
breast, cradling them in her soft wings for the 
time. Sometimes she takes them with her when she 
goes out after insects in the evenings, and they cling 
securely to her neck while she darts about. When 
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