28 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



as witch-doctors dread the light of investigation; 

 and the same is true of bats. Though most moon- 

 shine creatures have exaggerated eyes, those of the 

 bat are ahnost as rudimentary as are those of a 

 mole, or of the weird fishes that were ejected from 

 the subterranean tarns of Mount Cotopaxi. 



It is for purposes of self-defence, shelter and 

 rest that bats seek caves. At times they seem per- 

 fectly contented to sleep in the same cave with 

 rattlesnakes. There are a number of such caves in 

 the Philippine Islands where thousands of bats 

 dwell in dark caves with huge rattlesnakes, and in 

 the twilight all of them pour out at the same mo- 

 ment, a living flood of staggering night-wanderers. 

 Aristotle classed bats with birds, and in many re- 

 spects they are the creatures par excellence of the 

 air. "With the sole exception of the Javanese 

 roussette, bats are completely at sea in the water, 

 and almost helpless on terra firma; they eat, drink, 

 and court their mates on the wing, and the Nycteris 

 thebaica even carries her young on her nightly ex- 

 cursions. Nay, bats may even be said to sleep in 

 the air, for they build neither day nests nor winter 

 quarters, but hang by the thumbnail, touching their 

 support only with the point of a sharp hook. But 

 this hand-hook connects with muscles of amazing 

 tenacity. 



