214 FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



creature squeaks most pitifully. He is on the black 

 list of the gamekeeper, who shows him no mercy at 

 all. For my part I am very favourably disposed to- 

 wards him ; he is, on the whole, a benefactor to man, 

 if a prickly one. A quaint-looking little animal he 

 is, too, and one that never puts himself in the way 

 if he can help it. 



It is a well-known fact that those insects which 

 are most injurious to man's labours in the garden 

 and the field do their work at night, including grubs, 

 larvae, and the rest. Now small reptiles feed on 

 insects, as a rule, so that the hedgehog through 

 their means does double duty, for he lives on both. 

 It is small wonder if he is caught in a trap when it 

 is set with some dainty morsel. If dog or cat 

 wandered where he does in search of food, they 

 would get caught too with the same bait. How- 

 ever, it is only when he wanders near houses and 

 gardens that he gets into trouble ; away from them 

 he can live unmolested, and bring up his family 

 in the snuggest home he can make for them. 



When the little urchins make their first appear- 

 ance in the world, they are very different from their 

 parents in appearance; their spines resemble hair, 



