The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1891-06-11
TWO QUEER CREATURES.
Habits and PecalIsrities OF the Hat an
the Whale.


the Whale.
Only one species Of featherless ami
NAL that can fly exists In all the world,
and 1t is one that you probably have
often seen. Properly speaking it has no
wings, nevertheless its flying appur-
tenance is more nearly perfect than
that Of any bird. 1t flies with wonder
full rspidity, darts about with such
quickness that it is difficult for the eye
to follow it, and its sense of touch and
smell are something marvellous.
In watching its rapid and eccentric
flight in the twilight you have, no doubt,
thought that this sstrange animal is bird,
But its bird-like appearance ends with
its ability to fly. Its young are born and
nurtured just as are puppies and kittens.
This strange flying animal is the bat,
says Q writer in the Philadelphia Times.
In one OF Esop's fables 1t is related that
the beasts and the birds once engaged
in battle, and the bat hovered above,
changing from one side to the other, as
the chances of victory changed. For
this treachery the bat was doomed to
the queer life he now leads, that of an
apparent bird, but real mammalian ami
NAL. . FsHt &,,.
The structure Of the bat is very pecul-
lar. An eminent naturalist says: "If
the fingers of q man were to be drawn
out like wire to about four feet in
length, thin membrane to extend from
finger to finger, and another membrane
to fall from the little finger to the
ankles. he would make very tolerable
bat" Yes, the whole skeleton of the
bat Is very similar to that of man, with
the exception Of the great elongation
Of what we may call the arms and
hands.
When you see the bat darting about in
the evening he is taking his supper. He
lives as the swallow does. on insects in
the air, and, although his sight is very
poor, his touch and smell are SO sensi-
tive that he has no difficulty in catch
ing his prey, even when flying so very
fast.
When cold weather comes on the bat
ceases to fly about in search of food. He
doesn't need to. He seeks we'll shell
tered nook, where he is not likely to be
disturbed, and quietly takes Q nap till
next spring!
Somewhat analogous to the bat, the
mammalian Of the air, is the whale, the
mammalian of the sea. The whale is no
more . fish than the bat is bird. Its
young are born like the kittens and the
puppies, but only one at a time. The
young whale takes its nourishment at
its mothers breast, just as the human
baby does, and it is just as carefully
watched and guarded by its parents.
Although whales grow to enormous
size, sometimes eighty and even ninety
feet long, the throat is so small that
the animal couldn't swallow bite as
large as tea biscuit This applies to
the common whale; the spermaceti has
. mouth large enough to swallow man
The whaleb0ne that the dress-makers
and others find so useful is what may
be called the jaw of the common whale.
1t has no teeth, and it lives on anima-
cules-little animals-that float in great
numbers on the surface of the water.
The whalebone is used as a sieve
through which the food is strained.
Therefore the whale that kindly took
Jonah SIN out of the wet" must have
been spermaceti, which has big
throat and jaws with about one hundred
teeth in each. :. r.