Strange Dwellings. 



CHAPTER I. 



B URR O WING MA MM A LI A . 



Introduction — Man as a Burrower— The Mole and its Dwelling — Difficulty of 

 observing its Habits — Complicated structure of its Fortress, and its Uses — 

 Character of the Mole — Adaptation of its Form to its mode of Life — Common 

 Objects— The Shkew Mole, Elephant Shrew, and Musk Rat— The 

 Arctic Fox — Structure of its Limbs — Form of its Burrow — The Common 

 Fox — Mode of Burrowing and economy of Labour — The young Family — 

 The Weasels — The Badger and its Burrow — The Prairie Dog, or 

 WiSH-TON-WiSH — Dog-towns — Unpleasant Intruders — The Rabbit, and 

 the Warren— The Chipping Squirrel— Curious form of its Dwelling— The 

 Pouched Rat — The White Bear — Its curious Dwelling — Snow as a 

 Shelter — The PiCiliCiAGO — Its Form, Armour, and Burrow — The Manis — 

 The Aard Vark, Its P'ood and Dwelling — The Mallangong— Us strange 

 Habits and its Burrow — The Porcupine Ant-Eater — Its burrowing 

 Powers. 



AT some period of their existence, many of the higher 

 animals require a Home, either as a shelter from the 

 weather, or a defence against their enemies. Of all forms of 

 habitation, the simplest is a burrow, whether beneath the surface 

 of the ground, or into stone, wood, or any other substance. 



The lowest grades of human beings are found to adopt this 

 easy and simple substitute for a home, and the Bosjesman of 

 the Cape, and the ' Digger ' Indian of America, alike resort to 

 so obvious an expedient. 



Human habitations, however, do not come within the scope 

 of the present work, which is restricted to those homes that are 



B 



