It is common to find numbers of them lying dead in the fields and hedge-rows, without any apparent external injury. The cause of this general mortality does not appear to be understood. BELL'S QUADRupeds. THERE are numerous little circumstances connected with the study of Natural History, which are not yet explained, and it certainly affords me some degree of gratification and pleasure, when I have discovered any fresh facts which throw light upon them. Persons who live much in the country, and are in the habit of making observations during their walks, must have seen, in the spring, numbers of the common Shrew-mouse lying dead in various directions. This circumstance has attracted the attention of many Naturalists, who, on making enquiries as to the cause of it, amongst their poorer neighbours and labourers, have had it accounted for in a variety of ways. Some have asserted that owls will kill, but not eat them, as the loins of the little animal have been found pinched as if by the beak of a bird. If this were the case, the wise and solemn owl might justly be liable to a charge of wanton cruelty, to say nothing of its waste of time during its nocturnal flights. The fact, however, is that the owl catches and feeds on the shrew, as it does on any other mouse which comes in its way. Other persons have maintained that cats will kill this little quadruped, but that they always refuse to eat it, in consequence of a rank offensive smell which it is said to possess. I have however found dead shrews far away from the haunts of cats, and they may now be fairly exonerated, like the owl, from this charge. The very circumstance, however, of this mystery in the history of the shrew, has given it a sort of importance amongst countrypeople, even in the present day, and many will not only refuse to touch it, but they even look upon it with dislike. They consider it to be venomous, and it was formerly thought that if it ran over a person's foot, he would become lame in consequence. Mr. White, in his History of Selborne, mentions a shrew-ash tree, which after having had a large hole bored in it, and a live shrew-mouse plugged up in it, was thought to be a remedy for the evils inflicted by this harmless animal. Its very name has been adopted as a term of reproach to a scolding woman, probably from the venom it was supposed to possess. Shakspeare, however, has now and then used it with terms of endearment Pretty Jessica, like a little shrew. Wishing, however, to rescue this little quadruped from the odium which has, during so many ages, been attached to it, I am obliged to confess that it is a most pugnacious animal, and this pugnacity is the cause of the death of those we meet with in our walks, during the months of April and May. At this season of the year the males fight together, and I have examined several of those I have found dead. They were all males. I sent some also, to Mr. Gulliver of the Royal Horse Guards, Blue, whose researches into Natural History have been equally curious and indefatigable, and he discovered several livid spots about the neck and shoulders. And from other appearances, it would seem that the animals died from injuries received when contending for the females. This decisive fact will be sufficient to controvert the various opinions, which have been brought forward, as to the frequent appearance of the dead shrew. It may be mentioned that this species is now ascertained not to be the Sorex araneus of Linnæus, but the Sorex tetragonurus* of Continental authors. The Hedge-hog is another of those persecuted animals, which the superstitions of the vulgar and ignorant have denounced as injurious to man. These little inoffensive and patient animals are, therefore, killed without remorse, and nailed to * This mouse in Suffolk is called the rennie; the name of shrew is not at all known to the peasantry. trees and barns as trophies of the zeal and activity of their destroyers. They have been accused of sucking cows, injuring their udders, and other delinquencies, all of which accusations are equally erroneous. So far from being hurtful, they are beneficial to man, by feeding on slugs, snails, beetles and other insects, thus assisting in keeping down too great a number of them, and preventing their becoming injurious in our fields and gardens. The hedge-hog will also feed upon fruit, such as apples, crabs &c., and I have reason to believe on black-berries. I have also been assured that it eats frogs and mice. It has been accused of sucking eggs, but I have never with all my enquiries, been able to procure a satisfactory proof that this was the case from any of the keepers in the Royal Parks, in most of which the hedge-hog is plentiful. It will also feed on some roots, and Mr. White, in his history of Selborne, mentions its eating those of the plantain in his garden. It remained however for Professor Buckland to introduce this animal in a new character - viz. that of a devourer of snakes. I first met with the account in Mr. Bell's history of British Quadrupeds, and it is thus agreeably related. 66 Having occasion to suspect that hedge-hogs, occasionally at least, preyed on snakes, the Professor procured a common snake, and also a hedge-hog, and put them into a box together. Whether or not the former recognized its enemy was not apparent. It did not dart from the hedge-hog, but kept creeping gently round the box. The hedge-hog was rolled up, and did not appear to notice the snake. The professor then laid the hedge-hog on the snake with that part of the ball where the head and tail meet downwards, and touching it. The snake proceeded to crawl-the hedgehog started, opened slightly, and seeing what was under it gave the snake a hard bite, and instantly rolled itself up again. It soon opened a second, and again a third time, repeating the bite, and by the third bite the back of the snake was broken. This done, the hedge-hog stood by the snake's side, and passed the whole body of the snake successively through its jaws, cracking it, and breaking the bones at intervals of half an inch or more, by which operation the snake was rendered motionless. The hedge-hog then placed itself at the tip of the snake's tail, and began to eat upwards, as one would eat a radish, without interruption, but slowly, till half the snake was devoured. The following morning the remaining half was also completely eaten up," It is to be regretted that the size of the snake was not mentioned, as we might then have judged of the extent of the appetite of a hedge-hog. The hedge-hog is readily tamed, and will become |