68 



NATGEAL HISTOEY. 



guished from it by 

 its long snout, which 

 it uses in grubbing 

 the earth in search 

 of worms and in- 

 sects. The Water 

 Shrew dives and 

 Fig. 51.— shren Mouse. swims with great ce- 



lerity, and lives on the grubs of aquatic insects, which it 

 digs out of the mud with its snout. 



111. The Hedgehog, Fig. 52, is the only animal in En- 

 gland that has its 

 skin armed with 

 spikes. These are 

 its means of defense. 

 When attacked, it 

 rolls itself up, and. 

 such is the arrange- 

 ment of these spikes 

 that the tightening of the skin makes them all stand out. 

 A dog or a fox will not touch it then. Its food is in- 

 sects, snails, frogs, snakes, roots, etc. Dr. Buckland put 

 a hedgehog in a box with a snake. It gave the snake 

 several quick bites in succession, rolling itself up after 

 each bite. When the snake was sufficiently disabled, 

 the hedgehog ate it leisurely as one would eat a radish, 

 beginning at the tail. In winter this animal lies torpid 

 in a hole lined with grass and moss, and if discovered 

 looks like a ball of leaves, these having become fastened 

 to itssgikes as it rolled itself among them. 

 V 112. The Banxrings differ from the other families of 

 thlci order in being arboreal in their habits, ascending 

 trees with the agility of Squirrels, which animals they re- 

 semble in general appearance, but are easily distinguish- 

 ed from them by their sharp muzzles. 



113. The order Rodentia, or Gnawing Quadrupeds, has 

 eight families: 1. Squirrels. 2. Marmots. 3. Rats and 



Fig. 62.— Hedgehog. 



