48 FEBRUARY. 



some of the largest, a little below the surface 

 of the earth, they make their nests of moss, in 

 which four or five young are found at a time. 

 These animals live on worms, insects, and the 

 roots of plants. They do much mischief in 

 gardens, by loosening and devouring flower- 

 roots ; but in the fields they seem to do no 

 other harm than rendering the surface of the 

 ground unequal by their hillocks, which ob- 

 struct the scythe in mowing. They are said 

 also to pierce the sides of dams and canals, and 

 let out the water. Of this latter charge we 

 should be doubtful. Their instinct, it is very 

 probable, will preserve them from letting off 

 water which would drown them, and the ap- 

 proach to which they must perceive by the 

 moisture of the soil. 



A Mole-catcker, Miss Mitford has said, " is of 

 the earth earthy ;" but he is of the green fields, 

 of the solitary woodlands. We observe him, 

 especially in the spring and the autumn, a 

 silent and picturesque object, poring under 

 hedges and along the skirts of the forest, or the 

 margin of a stream for traces of 



The little black-a-moor pioneer 

 Grubbing his way in darkness drear. 



