THE HEDGEHOG 



well for chewing up rather ' high ' meat. 

 Supposing an urchin is hunting as usual for 

 worms and beetles, smelling here, smelling 

 there, pushing his sensitive snout in between 

 the grass stems, finding many a slug, scores of 

 worms, and endless insects, each being crunched 

 up with noisy relish, yet leaving him hungry 

 and unsatisfied, for small things like this do 

 not take up much room, and it needs a very 

 great many of them to make a satisfying meal. 

 He is still hungry when his nose goes up in the 

 air, sniffing, sniffing ! Surely that smell means 

 carrion ? His eyes are not very good, he does 

 not see far clearly, but his nose can tell fine 

 shades of smell of which you and I have no 

 idea, and this that now comes down the faint 

 evening breeze is unmistakable, so he follows 

 it up, waddling steadily forward as the smell 

 gets stronger and stronger. To him it is 

 delightful, and he plods on questing this way 

 and that until his nose leads him to a dead 

 rabbit lying out in the field. It has been killed 

 some days, as can be told by its more than 

 strong scent, its eyes are gone, picked out by 

 a magpie probably, and the orange and black 

 burying beetles who lay their eggs upon such 

 carcasses have already come and are hurrying 



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