68 
“Every forenoon, generally between the hours of 9 and n 
A. M., they take to wing, apparently for exercise, and possi¬ 
bly to sun their wings and fur and dry them after the dews of 
early morning. On these occasions their numbers are quite 
surprising, flying as thick as bees or midges. 
“After these recreations they hurry back to their favorite 
trees, chattering and screaming like monkeys, and always 
wrangling and contending angrily for the most shady and 
comfortable places in which to hang for the rest of the day 
protected from the sun. 
“ The branches they resort to soon become almost divested 
of leaves, these being stripped off by the action of the bats 
attaching and detaching themselves by means of their hooked 
feet. At sunset they fly off to their feeding-grounds, probably 
at a considerable distance, as it requires a large area to furnish 
sufficient food for such multitudes.”— Natural History of Cey¬ 
lon. 
When at rest, the Fruit Bat hangs head downward, by one 
foot, wrapping itself tightly in the folds of its wings. 
The North American Bats belong to the insectivorous 
branch of the order. The most common species in the East¬ 
ern and Middle States are the New York Bat ( Atalapha 
noveboracensis ) and the Little Brown Bat ( Vespertilio subula - 
tus). In spite of the almost universal disgust with which 
they are regarded, they are harmless little beasts, and are of 
great service in destroying numbers of noisome insects. 
Other mammals kept in this building during cold weather 
are the Six-banded Armadillo (Hasypus sex-cinctus) and 
the Nine-banded Armadillo (JDasypus novem-cinctus). The 
armadillos belong to the order Edentata —so called from the 
imperfections of their supply of teeth. They live in the 
warmer portions of the New World, from Texas into South 
America. They burrow in the ground and live on worms and 
insects. 
The order includes, among existing animals, the armadillos, 
sloths, and ant-eaters, of tropical America and Africa. Some 
of the largest of extinct mammals, of which remains have 
been discovered, as Glyptodon , Mylodon, and Megatherium , 
were also Edentates,—the first having been a sort of gigantic 
Armadillo ten feet long. 
