COMMON BAT. 
n 
box, never moved or endeavoured to get out while 
it was light ; and, w hen spread on the carpet, they 
common] j rested for a few minutes, and then be- 
ginning to look about, crawled slowly to a dark 
corner or crevice. At sun-set the scene was quite 
changed ; every one then endeavoured to scratch 
its way out of the box ; a continued chirping was 
kept up* and no sooner was the lid of the prison 
opened, than each was active to escape, either 
dying away immediately, or running nimbly to 
a convenient place for taking wing. When these 
bats were hrst collected, several of the females 
had young ones clinging to the breast in the act 
of sucking. One of them flew with perfect ease* 
though two little ones were thus attached to her 
which weighed nearly as much as their parent. , 
Common bat. 
The bat most common in England is about the 
size of a mouse ; or nearly two inches and a half 
long. The membranes that are usually called wings, 
(the extent of which, in a large bat, when fully 
expanded, is about nine inches,) when the animal 
flies,, are kept stretched on every side, by the four 
interior toes of the fore feet, which are enormously 
long, and serve like masts that keep the canvas 
of a sail spread, and regulate its motions. The 
first toe is quite loose, and serves as a heel when 
the bat walks, or as a hook, when it would 
adhere to any thing. The hind feet are disengaged 
from the surrounding skim, and divided into five 
toes, somewhat resembling those of a mouse. 
The skin by which it flies is of a dusky black 
colour. The body is covered with a short fur, 
of a mouse colour, tinged with red. The eyes 
are very small ; the ears are black and roundish. 
It makes its appearance early in sumsger* and 
