THE HEDGEHOG OR URCHIN. 269 



in the centre of the drawing-room floor to enter- 

 tain a number of lady callers ! 



BREEDING. 



According to the best authorities gestation 

 occupies seven weeks. The young number from 

 four to eight, and the first litter may be born as 

 early as the end of March. The first mating 

 season, then, must be early in February, as soon 

 as the creatures begin to move from their winter 

 quarters. A second litter is produced between 

 the middle of August and the middle of Sep- 

 tember. 



According to Gilbert White, the young are born 

 blind, and the quills, though present, are flexible 

 and white. At the age of eight days or so the 

 young begin to sally forth with their mother. 

 They are then more or less at the mercy of their 

 foes, for their quills are still so soft as to afford 

 little protection. So far as one can ascertain, 

 they remain with their mother till full-grown ; 

 and even after that they probably do not 

 wander far from the locality of their birth, as 

 the whole family, now composed solely of 

 adults, may be seen together throughout the 

 season. 



WEIGHT. 



The weight does not appear to vary so much 

 with the seasons as might be expected, though I 

 have never had the opportunity of weighing one 

 early in the spring. The male that denned up in 

 my garage weighed only 1 Ib. 5 oz. in midwinter. 

 Another specimen, taken in midsummer, tipped 

 the beam at 2 Ib. 7 oz. This seemed rather a 



