BADGER. 159 



late as in the year 107i], the lainily of the Ursida; * has 

 had no other representative, in our indigenous zoology, 

 than the present animal, which in its habits, no less 

 than in its structure, claims no very remote relationship 

 to that tribe. t 



Heavy, sleepy, and slothful — endowed with ])ut a 

 moderate degree of intellect, and with instincts dull 

 and obtuse, it yet possesses a character and qualities 

 which, if not peculiarly interesting and intelligent, are 

 far from being disgusting and ferocious ; and if it do 

 not boast the admirable sagacity and lively attachment 

 of the Dog, it is yet free from the cunning and rapine 

 of the Fox, and the fierceness and treachery of the Cat. 

 Its favourite haunts ai'e obscure and gloomy ; it retires 

 to the deepest recesses of woods, or to thick coppices 

 covering the sides of hills ; and there, with its long and 

 powerful claws, digs for itself a deep and well-formed 

 domicile, consisting of more than one apartment. The 

 general form of the elongated but robust body — the 

 long taper muzzle, terminating in a movable snout — the 

 hard coarse hair — the loose and leathery skin, the low 

 and plantigrade limbs, and the fossorial character of 

 the claws, combine to fit the Badger for a subterranean 

 abode, and to enable it to form tliat abode by its own 

 labour. Here it sleeps during the greater part of the 

 day, coming abroad only for a short period in the 

 evening or night, to seek its sustenance, in the choice 

 of whicli it exhibits as completely an omnivorous a 



• The Bear tribe. 



t Since the al)ove was wTitten, the genus 3Iclcs has been shown to possess 

 intimate zoological affinities witli the Mustdadw. Our frioiul llr. Water- 

 bouse — perhaps the highest existing authority on what relates to Mammalia — 

 has traced gradations through a series of genera, from Mdes to Mustcla ; but 

 as we believe in certain points of relationship between the MuslckidiE and 

 the f'rxidw, we, for the jtrescnt, shall retain the Badger in the latter 

 family. 



