THE BRITISH MAMMALS : THEIR GENERA AND SPECIES. 37 



animal is ten inches long or thereabouts, and some five inches high, 

 the legs lifting it but an inch above the ground. The colour of the 

 upper parts is greyish brown, with a dark streak along the face 

 passing through the eye ; on the underparts, where the spines are 

 replaced by hairs arid bristles, the colour is lighter. The eyes are 

 small and black. The hedgehog feeds on other things than insects, 

 for though peculiarly partial to the domestic black-beetle, otherwise 

 the cockroach, and other insects, it is by no means averse to worms 

 arid snails, or to small rodents and reptiles, not excepting snakes, 

 and its depredations as an egg-stealer have frequently been com- 

 mented on. It sleeps in almost any hole it can find deep enough or 

 can make so, and the young are born in a roofed nest of leaves and 

 moss. It is mainly nocturnal in habits, and is generally seen in 

 rainy weather or on moonlight nights, never appearing in the 

 winter, its hibernation being long and complete. In movement it is 

 by no means sluggish ; the rapidity with which it can assume the 

 ball shape is simply marvellous, and it seems to keep on the move 

 all night long at a man's fastest walking pace. It is found in all 

 the three kingdoms, and ranges therefrom into Eastern China. 



Felis. Plate v. CARNIVORA. 



21. catus, WILD CAT. Tail of the same djameter throughout; 



claws long, sharp, and retractile. 



The Wild Cat can be recognised by its tail, which does not taper 

 like that of the domestic cat, but is cylindrical, and blunt at the end, 

 and ringed and tipped with black. The fur is as thick as that of a 



WILD CAT. 

 (Felis cat us ) 



cross between an ordinary cat and a Persian, and in colour is olive 

 grey with tabby markings, the most noticeable being the stripe down 

 the back and two bars on the cheeks. The toe-pads are not quite 

 black ; the claws are large and the whiskers long. The head is 



