BADGER 



49 



wandering abroad only in the evening in order to hunt its prey, either alone or 

 with several companions. In cold countries the badger lies torpid all the winter. 

 In Sweden it takes to earth towards the middle of November, and does not come 

 out again until the middle of March, unless the snow disappears before that time. 

 On retiring to its habitation, which it keeps scrupulously clean, a badger carefully 

 stops up the entrance. The burrow is generally lined with ferns and other plants ; 

 at the approach of winter the old leaves are replaced by new ones, which are 

 gathered with the sharp claws of the animal, but these are never used until 

 properly dried. Badgers eat all kinds of roots and fruits, but their chief food is 

 small mammals, frogs, insects, and birds' eggs. The burrow often forks oft' into 



YOUNG BADOEltS. 



two side-holes, and here the female gives birth to three or four blind young ones, 

 which open their eyes on the tenth day of their life, but do not appear outside the 

 hole before the end of June. In Germany the badger is generally driven out of 

 its hole by dachshunds, that is "badger-hounds," and latterly fox-terriers have 

 been employed, which, if they do not succeed in driving him out, at least keep 

 him prisoner until he can be dug out. 



Pine-Marten. 



The martens are mainly confined to the northern parts of Europe, 

 Asia, and North America ; the two largest of the European 

 species being the pine-marten and the beech- or stone-marten. The pine-marten 

 (Muatela martes) is distinguished from the stone-marten by the form of its lower 

 flesh-tooth, the outer edge of which is as Ion-' as the upper one is wide, while the 

 outer edge of the upper flesh-tooth is rounded, and not curved. This marten extends 



VOL. I. — 4 



