SOME REMARKABLE TYPES 47 



curiously shovel-like hands of this creature, the width of which 

 has been further increased by the presence of a semicircular rod 

 bone placed along the inner side of the palm, while the nails 

 have been strengthened to form powerful claws for digging 

 purposes. In Fig. 13 the skeleton of the fore- limbs and their 

 supporting girdles have been shown, and comparison therewith 

 and the wing of the bat should be made. 



Thus fashioned, the mole is able to make its way underground 

 with the most wonderful ease, and, in light soils, with astonish- 

 ing speed, the body being driven 

 forwards by means of the great 

 hands. During the summer 

 months it displays marvellous 

 activity, wandering about just 

 beneath the surface of the ground 

 in search of worms, and the 

 larvae of the many different kinds 



of insects which lurk there. Its FIG. 13. The shoulder, girdle and limbs 

 appetite is insatiable; but this, of a mole, to show the enormous size of 



remembering the enormOUS ex- the hands and the peculiarly shortened 



and thickened arm and forearm. 



penditure of energy necessary 



to procure this food, is not to be wondered at. For, similarly, 

 it may be remarked, the appetite of the navvy, or of those 

 leading strenuous outdoor lives, is greater than of those whose 

 occupation is sedentary, and requires little bodily exertion. 



For the winter months the mole constructs for itself a some- 

 what complicated dwelling-place. Briefly, this consists of a 

 central chamber and numerous galleries leading therefrom, 

 some of which lead directly to the surface, affording escape 

 to the upper world when necessary. The familiar " mole-hills " 

 which dot the land where moles are at all numerous, mark the 

 sites of these " fortresses," as they are called ; the hill being 

 formed by the earth thrown up during the work of excavating. 

 The female in the spring constructs a separate " fortress," in 

 some sheltered situation, which is larger but less complicated 

 than that built by the male. The central chamber forms the 

 nursery, and is accordingly filled with fine grass and leaves^ 

 amid which the young nestle. 



