192 North American Porcupine. 



skin, and come off very easily. The ears are entirely hid 

 under the spines and hair. The eyes are small, shining, and 

 black, and the expression of the countenance gentle and inno- 

 cent. 



They vary very much in colour; the most common is a 

 drvk brown intermixed with white, giving them a gray ap- 

 pearance. The white is generally a kind of coarse hair, con- 

 siderably longer than the other. Their voice is feeble and 

 whining, from an octave descending to a sixth. Their food 

 is the bark and leaves of the hemlock (pinus canadensis) and 

 basswood (tilia glabra ;) and they have been known to strip 

 trees of their foilage in the same manner as the sloths of South 

 America. They are, however, fond of sweet apples, corn, he. 

 which they eat holding in their fore claws in a sitting posture. 

 The Indians say they are most excellent food, and esteem 

 them highly. When they are discovered on the ground, 

 which seldom happens, they do not strive to get out of the 

 way, but on being approached, immediately spread the spines 

 situated near the tail over the whole of the back. 



Of late years they have multiplied greatly, and are become 

 numerous near the Oneida Lake, and in the north-western part 

 of the State of New-York. Their quills are dyed of different 

 colours by the Indians, and used as ornaments in giving a 

 border to moccasins, wampum, leggins, and other parts of the 

 Indian costume. 



