"The easiest way to make his acquaintance in the wild state is to be in the wood towards the close of twilight, when, any fine summer evening, the sound of his rustling among the herbage, accompanied by a continuous and often loud sniffing in his eager search for prey, soon guides one to the little animal's presence. At such times he is far less addicted than when seen by daylight to the provoking practice of rolling himself up in his prickly coat of armor; and it can be sen that, instead of an erect mass of prickles, the Hedgehog, who unalarmed, wears a smooth coat, the spines lying like ordinary hairs along his back and sides. Trusting, no doubt, to the fact that his refuge can be instantaneously assumed, he shows a boldness towards human observers that would be impossible in the case of any other wild mammal; everything he approaches is examined at close quarters, and if you stand still he is not at all likely to pass you without thrusting his snout under the instep of your book, evidently hoping that some or have made a retreat to so convenient a crevice. With all his boldness, he likes close concealment by day, and retires to rest as a rule, before sunrise—often down rabbit burrows, or under the shelter of a thick -covert."