240 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII. 



was dug up in March, 1780, and conveyed in a chaise 

 to the place of its destination. An eighty miles journey 

 had so far recovered it from its torpor, that it walked 

 about for a short time on being turned into the garden; 

 but towards evening, the weather being cold, it again 

 insinuated itself into the earth, and remained in con- 

 cealment for a month. The green lizard of Carolina 

 hastens, on the approach of winter, into the hollows 

 or crevices of decayed trees ; and the chamseleon retires 

 into the holes of rocks, or some other equally safe re- 

 treat, where it is supposed to become torpid. Similar 

 retreats, we suspect, are chosen by the numerous lizards 

 of the South of Europe, more especially as they are 

 always more numerous near stone walls and rocks, in 

 the spring, than in any other localities. Serpents, in- 

 habiting^ cold and temperate climates, become torpid 

 during the winter. They are said principally to retire 

 under ground, from whence they emerge upon the re- 

 turn of warm weather. We are told, by an American 

 writer, that, on a fine spring day, numbers of rattle- 

 snakes may be seen creeping out, in an apparently lan- 

 guid state, and assembling together, for the object of 

 basking in the rays of the sun. 



(255.) Passing over the class of BIRDS, in which 

 no well-authenticated instance of hybernation or tor- 

 pidity is known, it may be observed, that QUADRUPEDS 

 have three different modes of guarding against winter, 

 . viz., migrating, burrowing, or becoming torpid. Few 

 species, comparatively, are migratory animals ; for their 

 locomotive powers being much more confined than those 

 of birds, it would be impossible for them to pass over 

 such enormous distances as would produce a change 

 of climate. 



(256.) The Alpine hare, and the field mouse, are 

 interesting examples among the instances of burrowing 

 quadrupeds ; and the sagacious care with which these 

 animals provide for their winter support is truly ad- 

 mirable. The most remarkable of the torpid quadru- 

 peds are the bears of North America, who are ^ell 



