6 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



tion in the capture of a worm, than the swallow in the capture 

 of a fly. Such, at all events, is the inference which is to be 

 drawn from the manner in which the Mole acts when it has 

 seized a worm ; for no one can witness the active eagerness with 

 which it flings itself upon its prey, and the evident enjoyment 

 with which it consumes its hapless victim, without perceiving 

 that the creature is exultantly happy. 



The notion that worms must be miserable is a very natural 

 one. A very little boy of my acquaintance was lately excusing 

 some contemplated acts of cruelty towards worms, by saying 

 that they were already in misery under the stones, and therefore 

 that a little more pain would not be of much consequence to them. 



We all know that the Mole burrows under the ground, and 

 that it raises those little hillocks with which we are so familiar ; 

 but we do not generally know the extent or variety of its tunnels, 

 or that the animal works upon a regular system, and does not 

 burrow here and there at random. How it manages to form its 

 burrows in such admirably straight lines is not an easy problem, 

 because it is always in black darkness, and we know of nothing 

 which can act as a guide to the animal. As for ourselves and 

 other eye-possessing animals, to walk in a straight line with 

 closed eyelids is almost an impossibility, and every swimmer 

 knows the difficulty of keeping a straight course under water, 

 even with the use of his eyes. 



The ordinary mole-hills, which are so plentiful in our fields, 

 present nothing particularly worthy of notice. They are the shafts 

 through which the quadrupedal miner ejects the materials which 

 it has scooped out, as it drives its many tunnels through the soil, 

 and if they be carefully opened after the rain has consolidated 

 the heap of loose material, nothing more will be discovered than 

 a simple hole leading into the tunnel. But let us strike into one 

 of the large tunnels, as any mole-catcher will teach us, and follow 

 it up until we come to the real abode of the animal. 



A section of this extraordinary habitation is given in the 

 illustration. The hill under which this domicile is liidden is of 

 considerable size, but is not very conspicuous, because it is 

 always placed under the shelter of a tree, a shrub, or a suitable 

 bank, and would not be discovered but by a practised eye. The 

 subterraneous abode within the hillock is so remarkable that it 



