Photo: W. S. Berridge, 



HIPPOPOTAMUS 



The Common Hippopotamus (H. amphibius) of Africa is one of the modern giants (4 

 tons in weight, 14 feet long), but there is a dwarf species in Liberia. Their nearest relatives 

 are the Pigs. The huge creature can swim with efficiency, and occasionally "puts out to 

 sea " ; it can also walk along the bed of the river, remaining immersed for ten minutes. It 

 is vegetarian. The body is almost hairless. The nostrils are situated high up, as is suit- 

 able in an aquatic creature. There is a strange bloody sweat. The hippopotamus is the 

 Behemoth of the Book of Job "the chief of the ways of God." 



Photo: Douglas English. 



HARVEST-MOUSE ON THISTLE 



The Harvest-Mouse (Mas minutus) is, next to the Pigmy Shrew, the 

 smallest of British mammals, weighing only about one-fifth of an ounce. 

 It can run up a stem of wheat, and in its descent it uses its tail in a 

 monkeyish fashion. A nest of coarse grass, with a side entrance, is built 

 between three or four stalks of corn, and there five to nine young ones are 

 born blind and helpless, but developing rapidly. 



