200 



COMMON ninTlSir ANIMAFiS 



carod-for pig. They compose and liarmonise in 

 spite of his heavy bod}^, and his shapely feet and 

 crisply curling tail show that he takes some pride in 

 his appearance. 



The pig is a very old inhabitant of the forest 



Fig. 46.— The Wild Boar. (Photo, from life by W. S. Berridge.) 



swamps of Britain, as his fossil bones, dating back 

 to the Pleistocene period, tell us, and it is from 

 these wild boars that the domestic race of pigs is 

 descended. The Saxons kept their herds of tame 

 swine, and they also hunted the wild ones. There 

 are frequent allusions to the Saxon swineherd, and 

 Strutt, in his ' Sports and Pastimes,^ gives a repro- 



