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over the clearing and began darting about in every direction, 
feeding. They appear regularly every evening but their 
relative as well as aggregate numbers vary greatly on 
different evenings. Last evening there were about ten 
Bats to one Swift; this evening the Swifts were by far the 
more numerous of the two. The Bats are all of one species 
( Molossus rufus) and it is interesting to see how closely 
they resemble the Swifts in general appearance and especially 
in their flight which is quite as direct and if anything 
even more rapid than that of the Swifts. Their wings make 
a strong rushing sound which can be heard at fully 100 
yards distance when the air is still. When shooting these 
Bats, we actually find it difficult to distinguish them 
from the Swifts in time to fire before the creature has 
passed beyond gun range. Swifts and Bats always appear 
together and with great suddenness. You look about in 
every direction and not one is to be seen. The next moment 
there are hundreds dashing about in every direction, at 
first low down, afterwards 100 feet or more above the earth. 
The greater nmber remain in sight only some fifteen or 
twenty minutes. They leave a few at a time and do not 
appear to go in any particular direction. A very few of 
the Bats linger until it is nearly dark, rising higher and 
higher as the shades of night deepen. 
