100 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
NORTH AMERICAN 
[00PY2IGHT SECURED.! 
BATS . — Drawn by Merrick, and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
through the open window. We have seen this 
bat-hunt many a time, and have strongly pro- 
tested against it, for two reasons : The hat is per- 
fectly harmless, and he is greatly useful. The 
structure of the bat is so remarkable that it is 
■worthy of a moment's consideration. It belongs 
to the family of Clteiroptera, which is as much 
as to say, hand-winged animals. The bats are 
true mammals, producing their young alive and 
suckling them, but they differ from other mam- 
mals in being able to fly. Some Squirrels and 
Lemurs are called flying, but, they are only able 
to make prolonged leaps by means of an exten- 
sion of skin between their fore and hind legs. 
The bats, however, have real wings. Their fin- 
gers are much elongated, and by means of a 
membrane extended from the neck across the 
arm, fore-arm, and fingers, they can fly -with 
all the rapidity, grace of movement, and sudden 
change of direction that birds are capable of. 
The fore-legs being designed for flight, the ani- 
mal makes but a poor figure at walking, and it 
is only able to shuffle about in a rather ludicrous 
manner. The eyes of bats are very small, and 
this has led to the saying, " As blind as a bat," 
but being provided ■with very large ears and 
wings of great sensitiveness, they do not depend 
upon their eyes as much as other animals. Some 
cruel experiments made some years ago in Eu- 
rope, proved that bats, the eyes of ■which had 
been destroyed, could fly about, without striking 
against any object. The bats are all nocturnal ; 
they remain concealed during the day in caves, 
old buildings, holes of trees, or other hiding 
places, and only venture forth at night. In some 
places, if undisturbed, they accumulate in great 
numbers. The writer has visited more than 
one abandoned church in Mexico, where the 
bats were iu such numbers as to form clouds 
when disturbed, and their droppings formed a 
deposit upon the floor of two or three feet in 
thickness. The bats arc divided into the fruit- 
eating and the insect-eating groups. The fruit- 
eaters are all natives of the East Indies and 
tropical Africa. If they eat much fruit, it is 
gratifying to know that they are eaten in return, 
and are said to be a choice delicacy. The Vam- 
pires are insect-eaters, and belong to tropical 
America. They have curious leaf-like appen- 
dages to their noses, and the bad reputation of 
sucking blood from man and other animals, 
This quality of the Vampires has beeu regarded 
as a superstition, but late testimony goes to 
show that they do at least bleed horses. Our 
North American bats have, however, no appen- 
dages to their noses nor stain upon their charac- 
ters ! They all belong to the genus Vesperiilio,, 
and number a half-dozen or more species. The 
engraving presents three of these. The upper 
one is the Hoary Bat, which is over four and a 
half inches long, and has a spread of wings of 
over fifteen inches. It is grayish above, with 
a fawn-colored band at the throat. The one at 
the right-hand is the Carolina Bat; this is near- 
ly four inches long, spreads twelve inches, and 
is of a chestnut color. The Little Brown Bat 
is shown on the wing at the left of the engrav- 
ing; this is olive-brown above, grayish beneath, 
and has-a spread of nine inches. All our bats 
are insect-eater?, and when we see them flitting 
about, we may be sure that they are foraging for 
night-flying moths and beetles. Instead of 
destroying the bats, let us preserve them, for 
they are among the few wild quadrupeds that 
tuav be classed as the farmer's frieuds. 
