INSECTIVORA. 



203 



roots and herbs. Far from injuring agriculture, the mole 

 aids the farmer exceedingly by destroying large quan- 

 tities of injurious insects. It occasions inconvenience 

 only by the mounds and ridges which it sometimes raises 

 in smooth lawns. 



The hedgehog lives principally on insects, slugs, and 

 small reptiles, but occasionally it takes vegetable food. 

 Its habits are nocturnal, and it hides during the day. In 

 the winter it disappears, 

 sleeping in some hole. FIG. 128 



The hair of the hedgehog 

 is, on the back, modified 

 into hard and very sharp 

 spines, forming for the 

 creature a defensive ar- 



mor in which he can 



live in security. By 



placing his head and his 



limbs against his belly 



and rolling himself up, COMMON HEDGEHOG (Erinaceus europxus). 



he forms a sort of prickly 



ball, in which form he fears neither weasels nor birds of 



prey. The fox, however, it is said, can destroy him. 



The shrew seems to fill a place between the mole and 

 the mouse. It is smaller than the latter, and resembles 

 the mole in the form of the snout, the eyes, ears, teeth, 

 and limbs. In winter it lives in barns and stables, but 

 in summer it lives in the fields, hidden under leaves and 

 moss, and showing itself seldom except at night. It 

 eats large quantities of insects, but sometimes feeds on 

 grain. In winter it travels long distances in search of 

 food, and burrows deep into snow seeking stumps in 

 which it may expect to find larvae. 



