great wonder if a portion of the superstitious fear thus
engendered has transferred itself to these frail and harmless
creatures, and given them and their companions, the owls, something of
an evil reputation. And it must be confessed that when seen against
the light, flitting silently overhead, there is something weird in the
Bat's form, and this is no doubt the reason why, while angels of all
kinds are represented with birds' wings, those of Bats have, by
universal consent, always been conferred upon demons, dragons, and
similar uncanny creatures.

When it descends from its flight upon the ground or any solid body,
the Bat becomes to all intents and purposes a genuine quadruped. The
fingers being drawn together, with the membranes of the wings thrown
into folds between them, the whole hand of the creature is brought up
parallel to the fore-arm, and so got out of the way, and the animal
can then walk more or less easily, its hind legs, though short and
rather feeble, being perfectly formed, and the fore limbs, from which
the thumbs with their sharp claws now project freely, becoming
available for terrestrial progression. Nevertheless, this progression
is generally rather clumsy, as indeed might be expected from creatures
so curiously constructed.

While on the wing, our Bats are constantly engaged in the pursuit of
the numerous insects of various kinds which, like themselves, are
active in the evening and after dark, and of these they must destroy
immense quantities. The swarms of delicate gnats and midges which
disport themselves in the most complicated aerial dances, moths of all
kinds, and even the hard-shelled beetles, many of which fly about in
the evening or at night, fall a prey to these leathern-winged rovers
of the night air, and weak as the latter would seem to be, some of
them are able to seize and devour beetles which appear to be far
beyond their powers. Thus, the largest of our British species, the
Great Bat, or Noctule (_Scotophilus noctula_), which, however, is only
about three inches in length, preys freely upon such large and
hard-shelled insects as cockchafers; these, in fact, appear to be its
favorite food, and for their consumption its broad and comparatively
strong jaws would seem to be specially fitted, while its large and
powerful wings, measuring fourteen or fifteen inches from tip to tip
when expanded, enable it to fly with the rapidity necessary for the
pursuit and capture of such powerful