94 
NATURE NOTES 
as the Pentecost rose of Germany, and of the rose, broom, birch, box, guelder 
rose and lily of the valley, as associated with Whitsuntide in England. The 
printing and binding of the volume enhance its charm. 
Received : — Knowledge, Science Gossip, 7 he Naturalist, The Naturalist' s 
Journal, 7 he 7 rish Naturalist, Tdumanily, Our Animal Friends, The Animal 
World, and 7 he Agricultural Economist for April. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Hedgehog's sucking Cows. — The belief that hedgehogs suck cows lingers 
on still in country places ; and it is one that has interested me for many years. 
Farmers have gravely given me as a reason for a cow’s milk failing, that she had 
been sucked by a hedgehog. I have made many enquiries, and have always had 
the same kind ol answer ; either that my informant had heard it years before 
from some old neighbour who was supposed to have seen it when a boy, or that 
his grandfather — why not grandmother? — had told the tale. No one I have 
questioned has ever caught a hedgehog in the act ; and I venture to think no one 
ever will. Is it likely that a cow would let a sharp-clawed prickly little animal 
come near the tenderest part of her body, or permit a tiny mouth full of teeth 
like needle-points to seize hold of her teat? The teat would be too big. Sup- 
posing she allowed these liberiies, how much milk could a hedgehog swallow? 
A teacup full ? At this rate it would take a dozen or two to drain the udder. 
They would be sure to squabble for their turn to suck, and the prickles would 
come into play with a vengeance. The whole thing is a myth. 
Market Weston, 7 'hetford, Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
March, iqoi. 
Albinism in Moles. — Your correspondent “ S. B.” may be interested to 
learn that albino moles sometimes “ breed true ” — apparently, at any rate. For 
in the “ Proceedings” of this Society for i860 (p. 206), it is recorded that nine 
albino moles were caught in the same meadow in Kent. 
Zoological Society’s Gardens, Frank E. Beddard. 
April 4. 
There is in the museum here a specimen of a white mole, but I have never 
seen a live one myself. The Montreux Museum is an interesting one, and the 
curator intelligent, but the setting of birds and animals is generally on the old- 
fashioned system, without regard to life. The best Natural History Museum that 
I have ever seen is that of Mr. Hart, at Christchurch, in Hampshire, and his 
methods are being copied in London. Many naturalists go from London to the 
New Forest to spend a happy day ; let them prolong their journey to Christ- 
church and have an hour’s conversation with Mr. Hart, and they will be amply 
repaid. It may be as well to mention that there are also white otters, though I 
have never seen one. These albinos are not white, but rather what we call cream- 
coloured. The white rats however that 1 have seen are pure white. 
Montreux, April e„ igoi. Giles A. Daubeny. 
A Mole gathering Leaves. — On Saturday, the 23rd inst., while strolling 
along Golders Green, Hendon, my attention was drawn to the ditch at the side of 
the path by a rustle amongst some dried leaves. I stood still for a few minutes 
and listened. Presently I saw a black head peep out of a hole in the bank. At 
first I was inclined to think it was a rat, and was rather surprised to see crawl 
down the bank, a large black mole. An omnibus coming along at the time 
startled the creature, which retreated to its hole. When it came out again I 
could see the animal’s object, for it began to gather the leaves into its burrow. 
Can anyone tell me whether these animals breed at this time of the year? 
2, Canonbury Place, Canonbury, N. Chas. E. J. Hannett. 
Moles. — Last year when turning over a heap of old sods in my garden I 
unearthed two young moles, one rather larger than the other. I could not find 
