290 REMINISCENCES OF A SPOETSMAN. 



feet and a quarter in length from the end of the snout 

 to the rump. The weight varies in different specimens, 

 and according to the season, some weighing only fifteen 

 pounds and others exceeding thirty. The body is long 

 and robust, the skin loose and tough. The hair is 

 . coarse and wiry ; that on the back is long, and of a fine 

 reddish-grey, varying in tint in different parts ; that of 

 the belly is particularly long. The head is white, but with 

 a black band on either side, and dividing the cheek from 

 the forehead, and including the eyes and ears in its own 

 space. The muzzle is long, and terminates in a movable 

 snout. The eyes are small, as also are the ears, which 

 are semicircular, and nearly concealed in long hair. 

 The tongue is smooth. The feet are hairy, each with 

 five toes, armed with strong curved claws fitted for 

 digging ; the tail very short and light grey. The walk 

 of the badger is plantigrade, like that of the bear. The 

 two sexes are seldom seen together. In their secluded 

 haunts they dig two or three deep subterranean apart- 

 ments, the only entrance of which is by a slanting and 

 even winding passage. In these burrows they sleep 

 the greater part of the day, and emerge for a short 

 period in the evenings or night to go in search of prey. 

 In the summer time the female forms a nest of moss and 

 grass, in which she gives birth to her young, three or 

 four in number. The task of making the burrows and 

 attending to the cubs appears to devolve chiefly upon 

 the females. In the countries where the wild honey bees 

 form their nests in the ground, they are oft^n disturbed 

 by the badger, who, having a decided taste for sweets, 

 plunders their stores without ceremony. A Scotch 

 naturalist says that the badger digs up the nests of the 

 wasp and wild bee, and devom's the larvas or maggots 



