170 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Bat I know, being Swallow-like, and occasionally hovering over 

 and picking some insect off the surface of the water. 



Hedgehog (Erinaceus europceus). — The following is a note I 

 wrote, which appeared in the ' Field ' for Nov. 19th, 1904 : — 

 '" Most writers on British Mammalia agree as to the hybernation 

 of the Hedgehog. Bell says : ' The hybernation of the Hedge- 

 hog is perhaps as complete as that of any animal inhabiting this 

 country'; and adds: 'It retires to its warm soft nest of moss 

 and leaves, and, rolling itself up into a ball, passes the dreary 

 season in a state of dreamless slumber, .... and only rendered 

 the more profoundly torpid by the bitterest frost.' Lydekker, in 

 his ' Handbook of the British Mammalia,' remarks : ' During the 

 winter the Hedgehog passes its time in a state of complete torpor, 

 apparently never awakening, and therefore requiring no store of 

 food.' This in a certain sense is true, but that it does awake 

 occasionally I know, for in the winter of 1900-01 I caught a 

 Hedgehog running about on the snow late one afternoon, and a 

 few days later saw another one. Two writers in ' The Zoologist ' 

 for 1896 (pp. 76 and 98) affirm this. Now, these three incidents 

 all took place in bitterly cold weather, and are opposed to what 

 Bell states. In the island of Guernsey, where the winters are 

 not so severe, I frequently found Hedgehogs (where they are 

 very common) in the cold months of the year. That our hyber- 

 nating mammals do sometimes awake is well known, .... but 

 the Hedgehog being abroad on cold winter days is remarkable, 

 and worth noting." Last year, whilst I was staying in Somerset- 

 shire, I found the back skin only of a number of Hedgehogs 

 lying about a field, and a friend tells me he had observed the 

 same thing in Shropshire. I think this must have been the 

 work of Foxes. 



Mole (Talpa europcea). — On going through a large series of 

 Moles, I have come to the conclusion that these animals have no 

 regular time for shedding their fur ; but certain individuals moult 

 throughout the year, though the fur is poorest in some speci- 

 mens collected in June. They do not appear to put on a thicker 

 winter coat, and this may be due to their subterranean habits. 

 Living as they do below the surface of the earth, they would not feel 

 the cold like terrestrial mammals. I picked out specimens collected 

 in January, and on comparing them with some collected in July, 



