ous one, and utterly
unsupported by fact. Hedgehogs will undoubtedly destroy eggs, and one
can understand why gamekeepers wage war against them, fearing for the
safety of the eggs or young birds of their favorite partridges or
pheasants. This is natural. I suspect, however, that hedgehogs seldom
molest the nests, and that the injury they do in this respect is very
small. "But you know, papa," said Jack, "that they will eat young
birds. Do you not remember the dead sparrow we once gave to a
hedgehog, and how furiously he went at it, and how soon he ate it all
up except the feathers." "Yes," added Willy, "and do you not also
remember our putting a toad in the same box with a hedgehog? Oh! how
angry he seemed, and how savagely he shook the unfortunate toad! He
did not, however, seem to like the flavour, and soon gave up the
fight." Hedgehogs will certainly destroy young birds; but we must
remember to set the good any animal does against the harm, and strike
the balance; and, as I said, I suspect in this case the good will
largely preponderate. Hedgehogs are extremely fond of beetles; they
seize on them with great earnestness, and crack them with as much
delight as you lads crack nuts. Hedgehogs are sometimes kept in houses
for the purpose of eating the cockroaches so often abounding in
kitchens. Snakes are also devoured by hedgehogs. The late Professor
Buckland, having occasion to suspect that hedgehogs sometimes preyed
on snakes, "procured a common snake and also a hedgehog, and put them
in a box together. Whether or not the latter recognised its enemy was
not apparent; it did not dart from the hedgehog, but kept creeping
gently round the box. The hedgehog was rolled up, and did not appear
to see the snake. The professor then laid the hedgehog 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. This done, the hedgehog
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 hedgehog then placed itself at the tip of the
snake's tail, and began to eat upwards, as one would eat a rad