disturbed, the sound becomes more clear and piercing. It frequents towns and villages, and retreats, during hibernation, under the roofs of houses, and to the towers of churches."

The bat of our climate, flitting about in the twilight, is a harmless little creature; but yet it is an object of dislike to many young people. The wonderful tales related of the great vampire bat may have had somewhat to do with the prepossession against the animal, as well as an ignorance of its real habits. It is singular to think that so little should have been known by the old naturalists on this subject. "Aristotle," says Mr. Bell,

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speaks of them as having feet as birds, but wanting them as quadrupeds, and possessing neither the tail of quadruped or bird;" of their being, in short, "birds with wings of skin."

Pliny says, "that none of the birds, with the exception of the bat, have teeth, and that it is the only bird which brings forth young ones and suckles them." Even up to a late period they were considered as forming a link between quadrupeds and birds. The name of vampire has

been given to a large species of bat, inhabitants of hot climates, from their propensity to suck the blood of men and animals whilst they are asleep. They also subsist on the juices of various kinds of fruits, and are said to be so partial to the juice of the palm-tree, that they will sometimes become intoxicated with it, and fall senseless to the ground. The usual length of the vampire bat is from six inches to a foot, and the extent of the wings sometimes three to five feet. Its general colour is a deep reddish brown. The head is

shaped somewhat like a fox; the nose sharp and black, and the tongue pointed and terminated by sharp prickles. The ears are naked, blackish, and pointed, and the membranes of the wings are similar in colour to those of the common bat. These animals conceal themselves during daylight in the hollows of decayed trees, or hang to the branches by their claws; at the close of day they come forth in vast numbers. Dampier tells us, that in one of the Philippine Islands he saw "an incredible number of bats so large, that none of his company could reach from tip to tip of their

wings. As soon as the sun was set, these animals used to take their flight in swarms, like bees, to a neighbouring island. The whole of the time, from day-break in the morning till sun-rise, they occupied in returning to their former place; and this course they constantly pursued all the time the ship was stationed off that island."

At Rose Hill, near Port Jackson, in New Holland, it is supposed that more than 20,000 of these animals were seen within the space of a mile. Some that were taken alive would eat boiled rice and other food from the hand, and in a few days became quite domesticated. Governor Jackson had a female which would hang by one claw a whole day without changing its position, and with its breast covered by the folds of one of its wings, would eat whatever was offered to it, lapping from the hand like a cat.

M. de Condamine says, "that the vampire bats of America, which suck the blood of horses, mules, and even of men, when not guarded against, are a scourge to most of the hot countries of America.” At Borja, and several other places, he relates that

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they "had destroyed the great cattle which had been introduced there by the Missionaries." Cuvier, in the last edition of the Animal Kingdom, 1829, says, "that they have accused this species of having caused men and beasts to perish by sucking them, but it contents itself with making very small wounds, which become envenomed by the climate."

Molina, in his History of Chili, remarks, that "there are but two species of bats in Chili; the house-bat, which in no respect differs from the European, and the mountain-bat, which is of the same shape and size, and distinguishable only by its being of an orange colour. Neither of these are vampires, as are those of the southern torrid zone, but feed entirely upon insects."

Waterton gives the following amusing account of the vampire bat:

"At the close of the day the vampires leave the hollow trees, whither they had fled at the morning's dawn, and scour along the river's banks in quest of prey. On waking from sleep, the

astonished traveller finds his hammock all stained

with blood. It is the vampire that hath sucked him. Not man alone, but every unprotected animal, is exposed to his depredations; and so gently does this nocturnal surgeon draw the blood, that, instead of being roused, the patient is lulled into a still profounder sleep. As there was a free entrance and exit to the vampire in the loft where I slept, I had many a fine opportunity of paying attention to this nocturnal surgeon. He does not always live on blood. When the moon shone bright, and the fruit of the banana tree was ripe, I could see him approach and eat it. He would also bring into the loft from the forest a green round fruit, something like the wild Guava, and about the size of a nutmeg. There was something also in the blossom of the Sawarri nut-tree which was grateful to him; for, on coming up Waratilla Creek, in a moonlight light, I saw several vampires fluttering round the top of the Sawarri tree, and every now and then the blossoms, which they had broken off, fell into the water. They certainly did not drop off naturally; for, on examining several of them, they