MAMMALIA. TERM. Urchin. 2pg 



42S 1. Common Urchin. — i. Erinaceus europaeus, 1. 



Has fhort, broad, rounded ears ; the noftrils are bordered on each fide with a Ioofe flap. 

 Faun. Suec. 8. n. 22. Schreber, iii. 580. t. clxii. 



Erinaceus auriculis ereclis, or Urchin, with creeled ears. Briff. quad. 12S. — Erinaceus parvus 

 noftras, or Small domeftic Urchin. Seba, Mui". i. 78. t. 49. f. 1. 2. — Echinus terreilris, or Land Ur- 

 chin. Gefn. quad. 368. Aklrov. dig. 459. Jonft. quad. 171. t. 68. — Echinus terreftris, Erinaceus 

 terreftris, Urchin, or Hedge-hog. Raj. qirad. 231. — Igel. Knorr, del. ii. t. H. f. 3. — Hcriffon, or 

 Hedge-hog. Sm. Buff, iv. 300. pi. Ixxxv. — Sora. Flacourt, voy. Madagaf. 152. — Common Hedge- 

 hog. Perni. hift. of quad. n. 355. t. xlviii. fig. 3. Brit. zool. i. io5. Arch zool. i. 142. B. 



Inhabits the whole of Europe, except the cold regions of the north; the fouthern parts of Siberia, 

 as far as the Kirgifian deferts and the Jaic, and in Madagafcar. — Refides in thickets, hedges, and 

 at the bottom of dry ditches which are covered with bufhes, where it builds a neft of mofs, graft, 

 or leaves; it hybernates under hedges or thick bufhes, rolled up in a globular form; goes abroad on- 

 ly in the night, and lives on frogs, toads, worms, beetles, may-bugs, grafshoppers, crabs, fnails, fruits, 

 roots, fmall birds, and carrion ; eligs holes in moffy places ; fwims very readily ; when terrified or 

 irritated, it rolls itfelf into a round form, prefenting the points of its fpines on every fide as a defence, 

 ' and ejecting its urine, which has a difgufting fmell; by thefe means it is invulnerable to dogs, pole- 

 cats, martins, ferrets, or birds of prey; it fcreams when the feet are pinched, and has a mufky odour. 

 By the Calmucks, this animal is domefticated, and kept in their huts inftead of cats. The flefh, is not 

 eatable. The Hedge-hog lives in pairs which propagate in fpring, face to face, on account of the 

 prickles; and the female, which has three teats on the breaft and two on the belly, brings forth from 

 three to five young ones about the beginning of fummer ; thefe are at firft entirely white, and the 

 buds of the fpines juft appear through the fkin. This fpecies is about ten inches long ; the muzzle 

 is long and fharp, having the upper lip divided, and the noftrils bordered on each fide with a loofe 

 flap of fkin ; the ears are broad, fhort, and hairy ; the eyes are fmall, and of a black colour ; the pre- 

 puce of the male is long and pendulous ; the upper parts of the face, the fides, neck, and rump, arc 

 covered with yellowilh afh coloured hair, mixed with white ; the fpines are of a whitilh colour at 

 both ends, with a black bar in the middle, and are interfperfed with tawny hairs; the tail is about an 

 inch long, and is covered with dark hair ; the legs are fhort, naked, and dufky, having five toes on 

 each foot, the inner toe being fmaller and farther back than the reft, and all are armed with weak 

 claws-. 



420 2. Guiana Urchin. — 2. Erinaceus inauris. 2. 



Has no external ears. Briff. quad. 184. 



Erinaceus americanus albus, or White American Urchin. Seba, Muf. i. 78; t. 49. f. B. — Ame- 

 rican Hedge-hog. Bancroft, Guian. 144. — Guiana Hedge-hog. Penn. hift. of quad. n. 358. 



Inhabits Guiana, and probably in other parts of South America. — Inftead of external ears, this ani- 

 mal has only orifices to the auditory canals ; the head is thick and fhort ; the back and fides are 

 covered with fhort afh coloured fpines, tinged with yellow ; the belly, legs, tail, and face, are cover- 

 ed with foft whitifh hair, which becomes chefnut coloured over the eyes ; the hinder part and fides 

 of the head arc deeper chefnut ; the tail is fhort ; the claws are long and crooked ; and the whole 

 length of the animal, from the point of the nofe to the origin of the tail, is about eight inches. 



Yol. I. D d . r.. 



