5158 Quadrupeds. 



Amours of the Hedgehog (Erinaceus Euvopaeus). — I was strolling a few evenings 

 since, in the twilight, by the side of a coppice adjoining Cokethorpe Parle, when sun- 

 dry strange sounds were heard to proceed from some animal just inside the coppice. 

 I should not readily have divined the cause of these sounds, by what kind of creature 

 they were emitted, nor what was the occasion that called them forth, had not the game- 

 keeper given me an inkling of the matter from what he bad himself witnessed last 

 summer. By the information I obtained from him I was enabled pretty clearly to 

 comprehend the nature of the present case. T judged that the sounds in question 

 proceeded from an amorously-inclined hedgehog ; and, wishing to ascertain whether 

 the proceedings of the parties in this case agreed with those he had described to me, 

 I crept softly through the hedge, and cautiously approached the spot from whence the 

 sounds appeared to proceed. A few steps brought me near enough the objects of my 

 curiosity to observe distinctly all that passed between the pair; and their manoeuvres, 

 which I shall endeavour faithfully to describe, I found agreed in almost every particu- 

 lar with those previously observed by Jones (the gamekeeper). A circle of about two 

 feet diameter had been formed by the male, round which he was pacing, and giving 

 constant utterance to the sounds which drew me to the spot. Though I can imitate 

 these sounds with tolerable accuracy, I cannot so well describe them upon paper; suf- 

 fice it to say they differed but little, except in volume, with those puffing, panting 

 sounds which greet the ears of railway travellers when a train is put in motion, and 

 were given off at the rate of about 120 per minute, or two in each second. In the 

 centre of the circle, and of course forming the point of attraction, was the female; 

 and as the male moved round the circle he had formed, she kept turning round, as a 

 wheel placed horizontally is made to revolve upon its axis, by which movement she 

 was enabled to have her eye constantly upon him, and so with most commendable 

 prudence to guard herself against the possibility of a "surprise." Would that all fe- 

 males were equally prudent! At intervals the male would make an advance toward 

 the centre both of the circle and of his hopes, but every time he did so he appeared 

 to be met with an unmistakeable " Now do be quiet," " Don't be rude," " Keep your 

 distance," " Don't you think it," " I won't allow it," &c. &c. Occasionally the female 

 would steal out of the ring, and slip away for a couple of yards or so, always in the 

 same direction, but as often as she left "the magic circle" some irresistible power 

 seemed to draw her back again to it, so true it is that 



" Love rules the camp, the court, the grove, 

 And men" — and women too by Jove! 



Its sway is universal; the high and the lofty, the lowly and the mean, every living 

 creature acknowledges its power, all yield willing obedience to its dictates, all readily 

 submit themselves to be bound in its fetters. It was, moreover, observable how that 

 — each time the female quitted the circle— the male at once paused in his rounds, and 

 discontinued the sounds to which he had been giving utterance, till her return, when 

 both sounds and motion were immediately resumed. Love, they say, is blind ; and 

 certainly it, or something else, caused the sense not only of sight, but of smell, in this 

 pair to be remarkably obtuse, for I had been standing for nearly an hour, during 

 which time the exhibition I have described was going on, so near them that with two 

 short strides I could have placed my foot in the very centre of the circle without their 

 being apparently at all aware of my proximity. However, at length the female did 

 somehow become aware of the presence of a third, and consequently an unwelcome 



