, curls
its head under its fore legs, and shows itself a bundle of sharp
quills.

6. Should a dog or hungry wolf then snap at it, the quills get into
his mouth, and stick there. Each quill has barbs like a fish-hook, and
many an animal has died from the quills working into its flesh after
having tried to bite a porcupine.

7. The porcupine can also throw up its back or strike a heavy blow
with its tail, driving the quills into the flesh of its enemies.

8. The quills easily break off at their blunt end, and they grow like
the hair; so the porcupine has a plenty for use at all times.

9. When men hunt the porcupine, they take care not to get a blow from
the tail, and then they watch their chance, and strike the animal on
the nose with a club, which kills it at once.

10. The porcupine builds its nest in hollow trees. In the winter it
sleeps most of the time, only coming out once in a while to get
something to eat.

LESSON XLIV.

_ABOUT THE WOODCHUCK._

[Illustration]

1. The woodchuck is about twice the size of the common rabbit. Its
body is thick, and it has short legs, armed with long, naked nails.

2. It has small, round ears, and a short, bushy tail. It has a thick
coat of coarse fur, long whiskers, like a cat, and chisel-teeth for
gnawing. It lives upon fruit and the leaves of plants, and is very
fond of red clover.

3. When walking, its hind legs do not stand up like those of a cat or
dog; but the leg up to the first joint comes down flat upon the
ground.

4. With its strong claws it digs a hole in the ground for a home. It
chooses a soft place in a bank, where, at first, it can dig up, so
that it will not be disturbed by water. Its home has several
entrances, so that, if pursued, it can escape by running in or out. In
one of its driest rooms it makes its nest of dried grass; and here it
stays in stormy weather, only coming out on pleasant days.

[Illustration]

5. Woodchucks are very timid, and, when they come out to feed, one
sits up and keeps watch. Should it spy any danger, it gives a kind of
whistle, and away they all scud to their holes.

6. When winter comes, the woodchuck rolls himself up in his nest and
goes to sleep until spring. He is very fat when he takes to his bed in
the fall, but is lean when he comes out ready for his next summer's
work.

7. The prairie-dog, found upon the plains in the West, is very much
like a small woodchuck. In a prairie-dog town there are hundred