The sun., 1908-11-22
BAT on TOAST.
a Tar Heel State Deiicacy-sport o
Shooting BuIl Bats.

shooting buil hats.
.I stopped at little hotel in Iredell
county, North Carolina, when / was
making trip through the Tar Heel State. "
said New Yorker. "and among the things
the waiter announced they were serving
that day was bat on toast.
Nov, that was something that might
we'll startle any one who had been used
to associating bats with anything but a
delicacy for the table. and turned my
startled gaze on him and exclaimed:
WHATS thatT' ,
"The waiter repeated it and almost
every one at the table stared at me as IL
was curiosity. Twas feeling very un-
comfortable when a good natured native
at the end of the table spoke up:
Reckon yo' stranger round hyuh,
Cunnel. They amt the mouse bats yo'
got in yo' mind, sub. They'se bull bats.
They mighty fine eatin'. suh.'
Il braced up. gave an order for bat on
toast. Now had eaten Of the wood dove
they number among the game birds down
there, and up to the time tasted that bat
on toast l thought wood dove cooked in
the style of Capt. Bill Tooley of Beaufort
county Wdb aDoub til0 DtSb tiiIhB IGtf
folk had set before me, but the bat was
better. admitted it on the spot.
1T was simply the common night hawk
we see in its swift and erratic fight at the
close Of summer days in the North. Why
they call II bat in North Carolina don't
know, but that is the name these birds go
by-long winged bats and bull bats.
ceeded in convincing the Legislature
Of that State that this bird is one Of the
greatest destroyers Of insect pests that
flies, and that the indiscriminate killing
OF 1t sh ~uld no longer be permitted. and
that the sport Of bat shooting is now IL
legal in North Carolina. When / was
there, however. IL was popular and had
been for time out Of mind.
Here in the North there never has been
a time when we would not have held IN
questionable esteem the man who would
shoot these birds in wantonness. and
thought still less Of him il We knew he was
going to eat them. but even a Northern
man would have thought better Of it all
IL he had ever gone South and tried 1t once
himself. never knew a Northerner at
home who had the heart to shoot a night
hawk, but have known more than one
Of them in the South 20 become enthusis
.astio shooters Of bats.
bat shooting was In season from the
time the birds began fooking to the
III tiit ldli Jill tLOh hiB
and nesting in the North. AS they were
sho: only on the wing-snd who ever saw
one Of them anywhere else to be shot aty-
and as their constant and sudden turning,
twisting, doubling and zigzagging in the
air required great skill to make q credit
able bag the sport was much more excit-
ing than field or cover shooting. A man
who could select his bat and wing 1t as
It darted about in its erratic fight was
well fitted to be the winning contestant
at a prize trap shoot with the most ca
PRECIOUS Of the old time blue rock pigeons
as targets, and they were about as hard to
hit as a fash Of lightning.
The sudden appearance and disap-
pearance OF the night hawks In the North
has always been a matter OF curious COM
ment. In North Carolina they come in
Just the same way. remain exactly two
weeks to the day, and then disappear as
mysteriously as they came. Conse-
quently the bat shooting season was short,
but it was lively while 1t lasted. The bats
sold readily in market for from dollar
10 a dollar and q quarter dozen. This
was evidence OF how highly they we're held
in favor for the table. for the plumpest
Of quail could be bought for 80 cents
dozen"