68 
NATURE NOTES 
to my coat. We sat down to examine it and see its bright 
blinking eyes and sharp little teeth : we next extended its wings, 
taking a particular interest in this, as they form, when tied 
together with an heraldic silken cord, our family badge. The 
little creature, however, was not subjected to any ill-treatment 
with the string we had in our pockets, but gently handled and 
eventually lodged safely in some ivy, where he could resume 
his interrupted slumbers, to come out again with the appearance 
of the evening star. 
Now if the person who had thus invaded the darkness sacred 
to bats and the bones of dogs shot by gamekeepers had been a 
girl with an abundance of hair twisted and curled up on her 
head or flowing down her shoulders, it is quite likely the bat 
would have attached himself to this ; and out in the broad day- 
light he would have probably tried to escape from it by getting 
in between the folds or locks of the hair, and having got there, 
and finding himself warm and comfortable, he would naturally 
wish to remain. Such a thing happening to a girl for the first 
time would be sufficiently frightening, however strong her 
nerves might be, and she might be pardoned for almost tearing 
her hair out in the endeavour to get rid of what she should 
know is perfectly harmless, and would know if natural history 
were properly taught in the schools. 
As many Russian peasants live in caverns and holes in the 
earth, and dark cabins, I expect that the bat story has much 
more truth in it than one might at first suppose, but I rather 
doubt if all peasant women are easily frightened by bats ; here 
is what Figuier tells us in his “ Mammalia ” : — 
“ Dr. Franklin says that he has seen in several farms in 
England, bats which were perfectly tame. These little creatures 
lived in the same room with the farmer’s family. If anyone, 
holding an insect between his lips, imitated the buzzing of a 
fly, they perched upon his shoulder, sought for the insect 
around his mouth, and even seized it from between his lips. 
“ In the East there are few inhabited houses in which bats 
do not reside. In summer many are seen hanging to the arches 
of the cellars in Bagdad, and living on good terms with the 
natives, who are in the habit of shutting themselves up in such 
places to avoid the intense heat of the climate. There they 
remain all day wdthout being disturbed by the noise and activity 
of traffic.” 
The vampire bat of South America is by no means so 
harmless as the species we have been considering, its blood- 
sucking propensities proving in some cases fatal to man. Still 
the stories that have been told about it by travellers are on 
investigation found to be exaggerated. 
Giles A. E>.vubeny. 
Tuchton, Christchiych, Hants. 
February 3, igoo. 
