The Zoologist— February, 1866. 59 



towards the end of the month a companion was got for him, and a 

 third specimen was afterwards added to this " happy family." On the 

 second hedgehog being placed in the area a fight took place, but after 

 a time the two became good friends, although they sometimes quar- 

 relled at meal-lime. The mode of attack was usually as follows : — One 

 hedgehog got behind the other, and tried to seize it by the hind leg or 

 by ihe unprotected skin of the belly, when the assailed parly uttered a 

 short snort, elevated his spines, and either turned on the enemy or beat 

 a retreat. They were never heard to utter any cry, unless this angry 

 snort can be so called, and appear to be almost as mute as the kan- 

 garoo. They very soon became quite tame, or rather fearless, not 

 even rolling themselves up when handled. They all seemed to object 

 very much to being disturbed in their mid-day slumbers : if removed 

 from their sleeping-box they scuttled back again with ludicrous haste. 

 When asleep they lay half-rolled up, with their heads between their 

 fore legs. At sun-down they came out to feed and to walk about their 

 prison-yard, and I believe that they remained wakeful the whole night. 

 The gait of these hedgehogs was very peculiar; first a short run, then 

 a pause, and then another advance : if any one approached they sat 

 up on their haunches and sniffed the air in the direction of the 

 intruder. I am sorry I cannot give them a good character for cleanli- 

 ness, for they carried what meat they could not eat into their house, 

 and seemed content to sleep on the putrifying mass : probably they 

 feed on the maggots which are thus bred. They were fed principally 

 on raw meat and bread and milk, which last they lapped like a dog. 

 In eating they had a curious way of smacking their lips loudly, biting 

 sideways like a pig. They could never be induced to eat fruit or roots 

 of any kind, although they are said to be very fond of some kinds. An 

 egg was a special delicacy, and was always eaten in the same way : 

 a hole was bitten in the shell, and the contents licked out, the opening 

 being enlarged as they went on ; many small fragments of the shell 

 were swallowed, but not digested. When small animals were given 

 them the entrails were always eaten first ; indeed this appears to be the 

 usual habit of the Insectivora, just as the head and neck are the tit- 

 bits of the weasel tribe: I have observt'd ihe same habit in the com- 

 mon shrew and the mole (Zool. 9707). As F. von Tschudi states that 

 these animals devour moles when they find them on the surface I gave 

 a dead one to my first hedgehog : next morning nothing was left of it 

 but the tough skin, neatly turned inside out, part of the head and the 

 limbs ; all the rest of the bones, some of which are j lowerfully developed 



