' LITTLE GENTLEMAN IN BLACK VELVET COAT ' 



number two will be certain to attack the body, 

 biting and scratching it until the fur is quite 

 spoilt ! The reason of such spiteful behaviour 

 has often puzzled me, but, as has been pointed 

 out before, a mole is one of the fiercest creatures 

 for its size in existence, so no doubt when one 

 of these little animals finds its friend has got into 

 trouble it merely re j oices at a chance of paying off 

 old scores. Despite their quarrelsomeness many 

 moles will live in the same system of tunnels. 

 I have known no less than eighteen trapped in a 

 single highroad, so they must have some way 

 of settling their differences. Probably members 

 of the same clan or family live happily together, 

 but fight and drive away strangers who come 

 into their country. This is so with some kinds 

 of mice, also birds, which are very much an- 

 noyed when mice or birds, as the case may 

 be, that they do not know, come poaching on 

 their territory. Well, we are much the same 

 ourselves ; we do not mind our friends walking 

 about our gardens, but we are exceedingly 

 annoyed if a stranger comes in unasked ! 



The ' byways ' are the actual hunting grounds, 

 the tunnels being pushed here and there close 

 to the surface as the mole hunts for worms. 

 The main roads are often sunk fairly deep^ 



157 



