Talpid.e.- 



-MAMMAI.IA.- 



-Talpid^. 



63 



son ill which that domicile is occupied, or iu a simple 

 molehill devoted to this purpose, during the summer. 

 Its bed is formed of various vegetable matters, such as 

 grass, leaves, or similar soft substances. It sleeps for 

 about four or six hours at a time in warm weather, and 

 principally during the day — its usual working time 

 being very early in the morning and at night. In the 

 spring the mole leaves the fortress, and does not return 

 to this shelter until the autumn, when it does not gene- 

 rally reoccupy the same edifice, but constructs another, 

 leaving the old one to the occupation of the fieklmouse, 

 or other small animal of similar habits. During the 

 month of June, or longer, it is in the habit of leaving 

 its runs, and wandering during great part of the night 

 on the surface of the land in search of its food." There 

 is also another mode which the mole adopts in captur- 

 ing his prey, when the soil is light, and when showers 

 of rain have enticed the worms to the surface. This 

 is accomplished by boring shallow trenches immediately 

 under the surface, surprising and catching these unfor- 

 tunate annelids at the most unsuspected moments. 

 Every one must have observed these mole-runs in fields 

 which have been only recently sown with grain. The 

 mole is a hard drinker, and his appetite in this respect 

 is in perfect harmony with his flesh-eating propensities. 

 He is also a firstrate swimmer, and, as we have seen, 

 his form is singularly adapted for easy propulsion 

 through any firmly-resisting medium. He will not only 

 take the water when inundations or a desire to change 

 his hunting grounds compel him to migrate, but Mr. 

 Bell avers that he sometimes takes a swim " merely 

 for the purpose of enjoying the luxury of a bath." The 

 male mole is exceeding fierce during the love season, 

 and readily resents any individual of the same sex who 

 should unhappily be paying his addresses to the same 

 female as hrmself. Formidable pitched battles are 

 fought, and much blood shed on such occasions, while 

 the unfortunate object of affection is also somewhat 

 roughly handled. The nest is generally situated at a 

 considerable distance from the habitation ; it is well 

 constructed and compact, but its place of location is 

 not always to be found indicated by a hillock. When 

 the latter is present it exceeds in size that of an ordi- 

 nary molehill. The nest is built " by enlarging and 

 excavating the point where three or four passages meet 

 and intersect each other." In one instance no less 

 than two hundred and four wheatblades were counted 

 by Geoffrey St Hilaire, and Le Court. From this 

 circujistance alone, therefore, we can well comprehend 

 the weight of those accusations which have from time 

 immemorial been levelled against the mole. Some 

 distinguished naturalists, and most prominently among 

 them Mr. Bell, have endeavoured to advocate its cause, 

 and to contend that after all the mole is not such 

 a thievish villain as some have supposed. Without 

 entering at any great length into this instructive con- 

 troversy, we are inclined, all things considered, to 

 take the view and state the case, as Professor Owen 

 l;as succinctly put it, in the following words — " The 

 farmer views the operations of the mole as destructive 

 to his crops, by exposing and destroj'ing their roots, or 

 by overthrowing the plants in the construction of the 

 molehills; his burrows, moreover, become the haunts 



of the fieldmouse and other noxious animals. The mole 

 is also accused of carrying off quantities of young corn 

 to form its nest ; hence every means are devised to cap- 

 ture and destroy it, and men gain a livelihood exclusively 

 b_v this occupation. Some naturalists, however, plead 

 that the injury which it perpetrates is slight, and that 

 it is more than counterbalanced by the benefit which 

 it produces by turning up and lightening the soil, and 

 especially by its immense destruction of earthworms 

 and many other noxious animals, which inhabit the 

 superficial layer of the ground, and occasion great 

 injury to the roots of grass, corn, and many other plants. 

 The soundest practical conclusion lies probably in the 

 mean of these opinions, and the enlightened agricul- 

 turist, while he takes prompt measures to prevent the 

 undue increase of the mole, would do well to reflect on 

 the disadvantages which might follow its total exter- 

 mination." The common mole is found in nearly all 

 parts of Europe, but in Greece it is said to be scarce, 

 while in the more northern counties of Scotland, and 

 in the contiguous isles of Orkney and Shetland, it is 

 stated to be altogether unknown. 



THE THICK-TAILED STAR-NOSE {Conchjiura mac- 

 roura). — The individuals of which this genus is 

 composed, are closely allied to the true moles, not 

 only in their general form, but also in their habit of life. 

 Their dental arrangement is peculiar. Of the ten cut- 

 ting teeth, six occupy the upper and four the lower 

 jaw. The two centi'al teeth of the superior row 

 are remarkably broad, also somewhat triangular and 

 curved anteriorly. The lower series slope forwards 

 in an almost horizontal direction. There are no true 

 canines, as usual ; but the deficiency is sufficiently 

 compensated by the presence of thirty grinding teeth, 

 seven on either side of the upper, and eight on those 

 of the lower. The anterior three of the s\iperior 

 series, or upper false molars as they are called, are 

 small, conical, and more or less widely separated from 

 each other, while the inferior false molars, five in 

 number on either side, are irregularly serrated and 

 trenchant. Several species have been described ; but 



Fig. 17. 



Snout of the Star-nose^ or Coudylura. 



their differentiating characters do not appear to ba 

 very strongly marked. In all of them the muzzle ia 

 prolonged into a narrow proboscis, the naked extremity 

 of which is furnished with a number of moreabie 

 cartilaginoid, styliform processes or caruncles, radiately 

 disposed like the spokes of a wheel (fig. 17). All have 



