110 ERINACEADjE. 



from under the huge naked roots ; in holes of rocks ; on 

 a dry bank in the bottom of a hedge-row ; or under the 

 brushwood in a coppice or wood. We have seen their 

 nests often in the latter situation, and composed entirely 

 of withered leaves, the inner ones being perforated by 

 the creature's spines, so that when removed from the nest 

 it was yet enveloped by leaves. Withered leaves appear 

 to be the best material for the nest, and are generally 

 chosen as they are singularly effective in keeping out the 

 wet. We have always failed to discover the place at 

 which the animal has entered this retreat, the entrance 

 being most carefully closed behind it. 



The female produces from two to four young ones 

 early in the summer, though the difference in their size 

 in the autumn, when they are often found by sporting 

 dogs, would seem to point out a somewhat variable period 

 of birth. At birth they are blind, and covered with 

 nascent spines, which are white, soft, and flexible at first, 

 but become hard in the course of a day or two. " At 

 this age," says Gilbert White, " they have little hanging 

 ears. . . . They can in part draw their skin down 

 over their faces, but are not able to contract themselves 

 into a ball." A fact observed also by Mr. Bennett, and 

 recorded in his valuable edition of the History of Sel- 

 borne. The nest is formed with considerable art ; and the 

 roof, even where there is no other covering, is capable of 

 throwing off the rain, and preserving the interior entirely 

 dry. Buffon relates that he has repeatedly placed the 

 mother with the young in a place of confinement; but that, 

 instead of suckling them, she invariably killed and de- 

 voured them, notwithstanding she was provided with 

 plenty of food. The same naturalist has a sufliciently 

 absurd story respecting the breeding of these animals, 

 which, as well as many other fables, he has copied impli- 



