MOLE. 133 



an ordinary mole-hill. It is formed simply by excavat- 

 ing and enlarging the point of intersection of three or 

 four passages. The bed of the nest is composed of a 

 mass of herbage, grass, roots, or leaves : in one which 

 was examined by Geoffroy and Le Court, no less than 

 two hundred and four blades of young wheat were 

 counted. This, however, can scarcely be considered as 

 an ordinary occurrence, as they generally prefer dry and 

 soft substances. The choice of materials depends, in 

 fact, upon the supply to be found near at hand. We 

 have seen a nest dug out of the bottom of a whitethorn 

 hedge, composed entirely of whitethorn leaves, and 

 another in a coppice (a favourite place with the Mole 

 for nesting), formed with dry fine grass, and leaves of 

 such kind as appeared in plenty on the ground imme- 

 diately over the nest. The period of gestation is sup- 

 posed to be about two months or upwards ; and the 

 young are brought forth in April, — sometimes earlier, at 

 others later, according to the season : indeed young 

 Moles have been found at all times from the beginning 

 of April till August, which has led some persons to 

 believe that there are more than one brood in the year. 

 There are generally four or five, sometimes as few as 

 three, rarely six ; and an instance is recorded in the 

 eighth volume of Loudon's Magazine of Natural His- 

 tory, in w^hich seven were found in one nest. The period 

 of lactation is not accurately known, but is supposed to 

 continue till the young are about half-grown. The pre- 

 valence of the number of males over that of females, 

 and the occurrence of but a single brood in a year, are 

 circumstances which tend greatly to circumscribe the 

 increase of the species. 



The Mole has always been the object of the most de- 

 termined persecution on the part of the farmer and the 



