THE MOLE. 33 



spent in personal examination, than by years of book 

 study. 



The characters of creatures come out so strongly ; 

 they have such quaint, comical, little ways with them ; 

 such assumptions of dignity and sudden lowering of 

 the same ; such clever little cheateries ; such funny 

 flirtations and coquetries, that I have many a time 

 forgotten myself, and burst into a laugh that scat- 

 tered my little friends for the next half-hour. It is 

 far better than a play, and one gets the fresh air 

 besides. 



These little water-shrews are most active in their 

 sports and their work, for which latter purpose they 

 make regular paths along the banks. And as to 

 their sport, they chase one another in and out of the 

 water, making as great a splash as possible, whisk 

 round roots, dodge behind stones, and act altogether 

 just like a set of boys let loose from the school-room. 

 And then — what a revulsion of feeling to see a 

 stuffed water-shrew in a glaSs-case ! 



Now for a few words respecting the distant rela- 

 tion of the shrews, namely, the mole. Of its near 

 relation, the hedgehog, there will not be time to 

 speak. 



Every one is familiar with the little heaps of earth 

 thrown up by the mole, and called mole-hills. But 

 as the animal itself lives almost entirely under- 

 ground, comparatively little is known of it ; at all 

 events, to the generality of those who see the hills. 



