THE OTHER BEASTS 361 



Closely allied to the hares and rabbits are creatures 

 called picas, or tailless hares, of which there are about a 

 dozen species. They live in holes amongst the rocks of 

 the mountains of Northern Asia, those of the E,ocky 

 Mountains of America, and, one species, in South- 

 eastern Europe. They are small animals, which are 

 agile and shy, and have somewhat the appearance of 

 guinea pigs. 



We must next pass on to the consideration of the 

 order of insect-eating beasts (Insectivora) — the only 

 order w^hich we have now left unnoticed. It in- 

 cludes the moles, shrews, and hedgehogs, with other 

 forms less familiarly known. They all have teeth 

 with sharp points well adapted for piercing the bodies of 

 insects and very unlike those of rodents. In the spalax 

 and some other gnawing animals just noticed, we have 

 met with rodents specially modified for burrowing, 

 with very strong claws to their fore- feet, without ex- 

 ternal ears, and with eyes covered by the skin of the 

 head. All these characters exist to the fullest degree in 

 the true moles, which are the animals the most perfectly 

 adapted to such a mode of life. They are confined to 

 Europe and Asia, and there are some eight species of 

 them. The common mole of England is found from that 

 island to Japan, and down to the Himalayas. Its fore- 

 limbs, with their claws, are exceedingly powerful, and 

 moved by powerful muscles to give greater scope, for the 

 origin of which the breast bone is keeled, as in the 

 armadillo.* The tail is short and the body covered 

 with a thick but short velvety fur. The mole feeds on 

 earthworms and is most voracious. In captivity, it will 

 eat any flesh or attack animals as big as itself. If two 

 moles are confined together and have nothing to eat, the 



■*•■ See ante, p. 258. 



