The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1895-11-14
TWO QUEER CREATURES.

Nahl@ ana keculiarities Of the Bat and
the Whale.
0nly one species Of featherless ami
NAL that can fly exists in all the world,
and it ID one that you probably have
often seen. Properly speaking it has no
wings, nevertheless its flying appur-
Eenance is more nearly perfect than
that OF any bird. Ii flies with wonder.
tul rapidity, darts about with such
Quickness that it is difficult for the eye
70 follow il, and its sense of touch and
smell are something marvellous.
In watching It's rapid and eccentric
fight In the twilight you have, no doubt,
thought that thlsstrange animal lisa bird,
But its biri-like appearance ends with
its ability to fy. Its young are born and
nurtared just as are puppies and kittens.
This strange flying animal is the bat,
says 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 lowered above,
changing from one side to the other, as
the chances Of victory changed. For
this treschery the bat was doomed to
the queer life he now leads, that OF an
apparent bird. but real mammalian ami
NAL.
The structure Of the bat is very pecul-
iar An eminent naturalist says: "If
the fingers OF 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 IS 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
tast.
When cold weather comes on the bat
,eases to fiy about in search Of food. He
DOESN'T need to. He seeks well shell.
'ered nook. where he is not likely to be
disturbed, and quietly takes q nap till
next spring!
Somewhat analogous to the bat, the
of the air, is the whale, the
Of the sea The whale isno ,
more fish than the bat is bird. Its
TounR are born like the kittens and the
puppies, but only one at a time. The
Toung whale takes its nourishment at
= mothers breast, just as the human
'sby does, and it is Just as carefully |
and guarded by its parents.
Although whales grow to enormous
ize, sometimes eighty and even ninety |
Get long, the throat is 80 small that |
he animal couldn't swallow bite as
arge as a tea biscuit. This applies to
he common whale; the spermaceti has
mouth large enough to swallow man.
The whalebone that the dress-makers
nd Others find 30 useful is what may
e called the jaw Of the common whale.
: has no teeth, and it lives ON animA-
ules-little animals-that float in great
umbers on the surface Of the water.
he whalabons Is used as a sieve
trough which the food is strained.
therefore, the whale that kindly took
onah Sin out Of the wet must have
cen spermaceti, which has q big |
aroat and jaws with about One,hundred
seth IL each. -