1.One day in winter，George and Henry found a funny little animal hanging head downwards in an outhousein the garden.It was such a queer littlething that they took it into the house and showed it to their father.
2.“Is it a bird or a beast？”they asked.“Which do you think？”replied Mr.Williams.
“Let me see if you can find that out for yourselves.”
3.“It has no feathers，”said their sister Alice，“and the hind-feethave toes and claws.I think it is a beast.”
4.“But then it has wings，”said George.“Beasts do not fly.Fancy a pig flyi ng！Wouldn‘t it be a strange-looking creature？”
5.“I think it is a beast for all that，”said Henry，“for its body is covered with fur.It has long ears，and its
wings are made of skin stretched on four very long fingers.”
6.“You are right，Henry and Alice.This little animal is called a bat，and it is a beast，”said their father.“Bats are beasts，as much as cats，mice，or elephants.They do not lay eggs；they have a mouth with lips and teeth，instead of a bill like a bird；and their bodies are covered with fur，instead of feathers.
7.”They have no wings，and yet they can fly.The toes or fingers of their fore-feetare very long，and have a thin skin between them，like the feet of a duck.This skin stretches along the side to the hind-feet，and so forms a kind of wing.
8.“The bats that live in this country eat insects ；but some that are natives ofhot countries suck the blood of other animals；and there are some large ones that live on fruit.
9.”In the winter all bats，except those that live in warm countries，fall into a deep sleep，and remain asleep till the warm weather comes again.See！The warmth of the kitchen has wakened your bat now，and you must feed him.“10.During the cold weather the children fed the bat with little bits of meat.Soon it grew so tame that every evening it would come and feed out of their hands.It always spent the day in sleep，hanging head downwards in some dark corner of the room.