ORDER OE INSECTIYORA. 
517 
Limousin, where they abound. On the banks of the Yienne, in 
the neighbourhood of Limoges, if you are walking out at mid- 
day, you will see a crowd of tails disappearing into holes. These 
are Vipers. The paths are their scouring-places. At Fontaine- 
bleau, before 1848, viper-hunters were paid one franc for each 
of these troublesome Beptiles.” 
Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals. They remain concealed 
the greater portion of the day in holes, either beneath stones, in 
Fig. 226. — Hedgehog ( Erinaceus europoeus). 
decayed trunks of trees, or in some other refuge, the work of chance 
or of nature. There they lie buried in a somnolent state, from which 
they are only roused to go in search of food. Their aliment 
chiefly consists of Insects, Molluscs, Frogs, Toads, and small 
Mammals. "When they can obtain nothing else, they subsist 
upon roots and fallen fruit ; but they do not climb trees in search 
of it, as certain naturalists have stated. 
We must regard as a fabrication the story of Hedgehogs using 
