16 WOODLAND CREATURES 



no great accumulation of soil outside the holes, 

 for it rolls down the bank as quickly as it is 

 scratched out. Thus there is little to tell of the 

 great size and length of the underground passages, 

 still less to show where they go to. The one 

 entrance is partly hidden under some bushes, 

 blackthorn and spindle, but the other has 

 nothing to hide its mouth. Such tunnels they 

 are too ! Great holes, fringed round with roots 

 from the neighbouring trees, their sides scored 

 with the marks of the badger's claws, and 

 littered about with the fern and grass that 

 the inhabitants have been drawing in for bed- 

 ding. This earth has existed for many, many 

 years. Generation after generation of badgers 

 have been reared in it, died, and given place to 

 others who have dug and delved in their turn. 

 Each badger has done its bit towards extending 

 the chambers, until the sett must be an under- 

 ground maze. By the way " sett " is the correct 

 term for a badger's home, which should not be 

 called an " earth," though the latter word is 

 much more descriptive. The stronghold in 

 question is, from a badger's point of view, 

 beautifully situated, for it is in a layer of sand 

 that lies between the clayey top soil and a bed 

 of rock. These conditions are those most sought 

 after by both badgers and foxes when scratching 

 out a home, for the sand is kept perfectly dry by 

 the overlying strata of clay, and at the same 

 time it affords them splendidly easy digging. 

 Such soil for a badger is mere child's play, and 



