4 LLANDDWYN 



stout and strong, the paws excessively broad and 

 turned half outwards. Place the Mole on a hard, 

 flat surface, and he will thrust his palms right and 

 left, rolling awkwardly from side to side instead of 

 making progress. But put him on moist earth, and 

 observe with what dispatch the broad fore-paws rake 

 aside the earth, the slender snout enters the incipient 

 tunnel, and the cilindrically shaped body follows. 

 With no eyes to be hurt and no external ears, with 

 fur the short hairs of which stand upright like the 

 pile on velvet, and cannot be rubbed the " wrong" 

 way whether the animal goes forwards or backwards, 

 he seems but some animated boring tool, all made to 

 serve one purpose, except the little, furred, outstand- 

 ing tail, that looks as if it had been stuck on as an 

 afterthought without serious intention. 



Handling the Mole in Anglesey, we call to mind 

 that it is here at the western limit of its range. 

 Occurring practically throughout Europe, in Asia 

 north of the Himalaya, and as far to the east as Japan, 

 the Mole arrived too late, geologically speaking, upon 

 these western shores, to profit by the once existing 

 land connection between England and Ireland, 

 already sunk to form the bed of the Irish Sea. 



Resuming our journey, we were soon again 

 arrested by signs of the presence of another creature 

 also rare in this western island. We had before 

 found the Redstart nesting in the woods by the 

 Menai Road, which, though rich in old, ivy-grown 

 oaks, and such quaint holes and corners as these 

 birds affect, are visited by only few of them, and yet 

 by these few regularly. 



