9 6 



INSECT-EATERS 



leads to the upper gallery by three passages, while there are 

 three times as many runs in different directions from the 

 lower one. 



The hillock is beaten and pressed until it is hard enough 

 to withstand the penetration of water. Under the central 

 arch is a small mound which is pierced with sloping holes, 

 the entrances to hard and firm paths, twelve to fifteen paces 

 in length, which radiate from it like the spokes of a wheel 

 from the hub. Altogether it is a perfect maze, well calcu- 

 lated to defy pursuit even by the weasel. 



Moles live in pairs, breeding in spring and sometimes in 



THE MOLE'S FORTRESS (HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL SECTIONS). 



autumn, the family of young numbering five or six. The 

 female makes a nest of dried leaves in the upper gallery, 

 or else constructs a fortress of her own. There are always 

 fierce fights among the males when they are selecting their 

 partners. 



No animal works so hard for its daily food as the Mole. 

 Its whole existence is spent in constantly raising and 

 removing large quantities of earth by sheer force of muscle. 

 Its appetite is voracious ; it works like a horse, and eats 

 like an elephant in proportion to its size. In all its waking 

 moments it is digging and delving and scurrying after 



