26 TALPIDiE— TALPA 



It appears that a nest is never resorted to in a second year, 

 but a fresh one is made each year close to the same spot. 

 Thus two or three nests, only one of which is as a rule fresh and 

 inhabited, are frequently found in close conjunction. The new 

 nests are often built on top of the others, and are constructed 

 of fresh material brought in from outside (Figs. 7, 10, 18, 20). 

 Two inhabited nests are very rarely encountered in contiguity, 

 and the most conspicuous instances known to Mr Adams 

 have been those of breeding females. 



In its choice of a site for a fortress the Mole is influenced by 

 the available supplies of food and water, but probably all other 

 incidents of its surroundings are accidental. In the vast 

 majority of cases the fortress is placed in an open field, but 

 occasionally in a coppice, a hedgebank with an adjoining 

 ditch, a hollow amongst old roots, or under a tree — in the 

 latter case probably without definite choice or intention. 



The " high-road," although a very important part of the 

 domain of the male, does not difier essentially in its construc- 

 tion from the other routes and excavations, but only in being 

 more frequently used, so that its walls are beaten until they 

 become smooth and compact. It extends from the fortress to 

 a distance in a nearly direct line, forming in fact the main 

 route of communication between the fortress and the different 

 parts of the encampment ; and the alleys which lead to the 

 hunting-grounds, or quarries, open into it on each side. All 

 the runs, whether ordinary or high-roads, are large enough 

 to allow two individuals to easily pass each other. It seems 

 likely that they must sometimes do so, although the popular 

 belief is that moles never intrude upon each other's company, 

 and that, should two of them meet, one must retreat, or a 

 battle to th.e death ensues. Probably, however, like another 

 burrowing mammal, the Pocket Gopher^ of North America, 

 the Mole also has the power of running backwards tail 

 foremost in its galleries, but only two writers — J. L. Knapp* 

 and Captain Mayne Reid — have mentioned this possibility. It 

 is also very supple, and can easily turn right round in any 

 part of its tunnels. The high-road is probably formed at a 



' Geomys lutescens, C. Hart Merriam, North American Fauna, No. 8, 16, 31st 

 Jan. 1895. In this animal the short, nearly naked tail has been developed as an 

 organ of touch. 2 journal o^ a Naturalist, ed. 2, 150, 1829. 



