258 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. 



bearded formation which points backward ; thus they 

 continually work deeper into the flesh unless immedi- 

 ately withdrawn. On the porcupine's back they in- 

 cline backward, and are raised by a special layer of 

 muscle ; but they are never shot from the hide of the 

 creature, as some people ignorantly assert ; the idea is 

 too absurd to receive a moment's notice, yet there are 

 many who persist in believing in it. 



The porcupine's nest is sometimes in a hollow log, 

 but oftener under the strewn rocks in the forest. 

 The female bears two — rarely three — young about 

 the first of May ; they are relatively twenty -five times 

 as large as the young of tlie bear at birth. 



