ITS FOKTEESS AND NEST. 125 



The fortress is of a very peculiar construction, and is calculated to 

 permit the ingress or egress of the Mole from almost any direction, so 

 that when its acute senses give notice of the approach of an enemy, it 

 can make its retreat without difficulty. 



The first operation is to build a tolerably large hill of compact and 

 well-trodden earth. Near the summit of this mound the excavator 

 runs a circular gallery, and another near the bottom, connecting the 

 two galleries with five short passages. It then burrows into the centre 

 of the mound, and digs a moderately large spherical hole, which it 

 connects with the lower gallery by three passages. A very large pas- 

 sage, which is a continuation- of the high-road, is then driven into the 

 spherical chamber by dipping under the lower gallery, and is connected 

 with the circular chamber from below. Lastly, the Mole drives a 

 great number of runs, which radiate from the rest in all directions, and 

 which "all open into the lower circular gallery. It will be seen, from 

 this short description, that if a Mole should be surprised in its nest, it 

 can withdraw throuo^h its central chamber and so reach the hio^h-road 

 at once, or can slip through either of the short connecting galleries and 

 escape into any of the numerous radiatory runs. 



In the central or middle chamber of the edifice the Mole places a 

 quantity of dried grass or leaves, upon which it sleeps during its hours 

 of repose. This complicated room is seldom used during the summer 

 months, as at that time the Mole prefers to live in one of the ordinary 

 hillocks. 



The nest which the female contrives is not so complicated as the 

 fortress, but is well adapted for its purpose. The hillock in which the 

 nest is made is always a very large one, and is generally placed at some 

 distance from the fortress. Its interior is very large, and is generally 

 filled with dried grass, moss, or other similar substances, and it is said 

 that in some of these nests have been found certain roots on which the 

 young Moles can feed. This statement, however, is scarcely credible. 

 The young are usually born about April, but their appearance in the 

 world is not so determinately settled as that of many animals, as young 

 Moles are found continually from March until August. The average 

 of their number is four or five, although as many as seven young have 

 been found in one nest. There is but one brood in a year. 



The color of the Mole is usually of a blackish gray, but it is extremely 

 variable in the tinting of its fur, and it is not uncommon to find in a 

 single locality specimens of every hue from brown to white. There are 

 specimens in the British Museum of almost every tint, and I have long 

 had in my possession a cream-colored mole-skin, which was obtained, I 

 believe, in Wiltshire, as it was furnished by a mole-catcher that resided 

 in that county. The fur is so beautifully smooth and soft that it has 

 sometimes, though rarely, been employed as an article of wearing ap- 

 11* 



