ABOUT THE MOLE. 265 



ANIMALS. 

 The Mole, the Staphylinus, and the Mole- Cricket. 



Do you hear that noise ? It seems to issue from beneath 

 yonder heap of pebbles at the foot of the garden-wall. Surely 

 the stones are moving ; they seem to be walking alone, and 

 of their own impulse, for I cannot see anything to set them in 

 motion. 



Let us draw near and examine the mystery. " Ah, what a 

 hideous black creature ! " It is retreating in a terrible state 

 of alarm, 'as if it felt itself pursued by some formidable enemy. 



This " hideous creature " is known to French gardeners by 

 the name of courtiliere; to naturalists, as a species 

 of Staphylinus. (Fig. 61.) Its great and per- 

 sistent adversary is the mole : a mammal at war 

 with an insect ! 



Watch well, I pray you, the mole's movements, 

 which you can do the more easily that here, con- 

 trary to his ordinary custom, he is wandering in 

 the open day ; the light blinds him, accustomed FIG. 61. The 



Staphylinus 



as he is to pass his life in the subterranean galleries okm. 

 which he excavates by his own labour. But if he does not 

 see us, he hears us ; the sound of our footsteps was sufficient 

 to make him prick up his ears (if we may so speak of a mole), 

 and he remains motionless. Do not stir, or he will betake 

 himself to flight, and we shall lose an excellent opportunity of 

 being present at a very curious spectacle. 



