BEAVEE LODGES. 369 



of the pond or trench, with the exception of the opening at 

 their ends. At the places where they were constructed through 

 the floor they were finished with neatness and precision ; the 

 upper parts and sides forming an arch more or less regular, 

 while the bottom and floor edges were formed with firm and 

 compacted earth, in which small sticks were embedded. It is 

 difficult to realise the artistic appearance of some of these 

 entrances without actual inspection. 



Upon the floor of the lodge there is constructed a 

 house of sticks, brushwood, and mud, in the form of a 

 circular or oval chamber, the size of which varies with the 

 age of the lodge ; for by a continuous process of repair 

 (which consists in removing the decayed sticks, &c., from 

 the interior and working them up with new material upon 

 the exterior) the whole lodge progressively increases in 

 size : eventually in this way the interior chamber may 

 attain a diameter of seven or eight feet. 



The ' bank lodges ' are of two kinds : 



One is situated upon the bank of the stream or pond, a few 

 feet back from its edge, and entered by an underground passage 

 from the bed of the stream, excavated through the natural earth 

 up into the chamber. The other is situated upon the edge of 

 the bank, a portion of it projecting over and resting upon the 

 bed of the channel, so as to have the floor of the chamber rest 

 upon the bank as upon solid ground, while the external wall 

 on the pond side projects beyond it, and is built up from the 

 bottom of the pond. 



Lastly, the 'lake lodges ' are constructed on the shores 

 of lakes, which, being usually shelving and hard, require 

 some further variation in the structure of the lodges. 

 These, therefore, are of interest * as illustrations of the 

 capacity of the beavers to vary the mode of construction 

 of their lodges in accordance with the changes of situa- 

 tion.' One-half or two-thirds of the lodge is in this case 

 ' built out upon the lake for the obvious purpose of 

 covering the entrance, as well as for its extension into 

 deep water.' 



All these forms of lodge are, historically regarded, 

 modified burrows. 



