38 



THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



skylark, although its manner of life may perhaps seem a strange 

 one to us. 



Now I want you to notice how very much the mole is assisted 



Mole. (From a Photograph by Cherry Kearton) 



in digging by the manner in which its body is formed. Let us 

 suppose that we have a dead mole lying before us. What shall we 

 see.' 



First, that its front paws are very curiously made. The legs, 



we notice, are quite short, but the paws 

 are very large and broad, and are 

 covered with a tough, horny skin, 

 while the claws are immensely strong 

 and sharp. 



These paws are the tools with 

 which the mole digs. The strong, 

 curved claws enable it to scrape away 

 the earth, while with the broad palm of the paw it can shovel the 

 loosened soil out of its burrow. The tough, hard skin that we 

 noticed prevents the paw from being cut by any little fragment of 

 shai'p stone. 



Then we shall see that the body is bottle-shaped, while the 



Upper or outer 

 Surface 



Under or inner 



Surface 



Fore-feet of Mole 



