ERINACEUS AUR1TUS. TALPA. 47 



Length of head and body, 9 inches 6 lines; head, 3 inches; 

 tail, 9 lines ; ears, 1 inch. 



Coils itself into a compact ball on the approach of danger. 

 Feeds on insects, sometimes on eggs and roots of plants ; 

 is easily tamed ; passes the winter in a state of complete 

 torpor, retiring to hollow trees and other sheltered situa- 

 tions ; produces from two to four young at a birth, early 

 in the summer. 



Inhabits the whole of Europe, excepting Norway and 

 Lapland. Is common in the British Islands. 



Erinaeeus auritus. 



Erinaeeus auritus, Desm. Mamm. Sp. 230 ; Pallas, Zoog. Ross. As. 



Description. — Kather smaller than Erinaeeus Europceus. 

 Muzzle short ; ears two-thirds of the length of the head ; 

 spines not arranged in tufts, separate, leaning backwards 

 when in repose ; nostrils toothed like a cock's comb ; legs 

 rather more slender and longer than in the common species ; 

 tail shorter, conical, almost naked. Eur finer ; four rows 

 of bristles on the snout ; spines white at the base, with a 

 very narrow ring of blackish brown in the middle, and dull 

 yellow at their points. 



Has two broods in the year, producing six or seven young 

 at a birth. 



Inhabits the province of Astrachan, between the Volga 

 and Jaik (or Ural) rivers ; as well as Tartary, beyond Lake 

 Baikal, and Egypt. 



Genus TALPA. MOLES. 



Teeth. — Incisors ■§■ ; canines -j- ; molars -g-. Body very 

 thick ; fore-feet short and broad, formed for digging ; tail 

 short ; no external ears. 



