FAUNA AMERICANA. 133 



ed, and entirely covered with hair; whiskers very 

 large ; fur soft and shining, composed of two sorts 

 of hair, the longest reddish-brown on the superior 

 parts of the body; cinereus-red on the flanks, 

 breast, and belly ; down or interior hair of the back 

 very fine and soft, of a cinereus colour near its 

 roots, and reddish-brown at its points; that of the 

 inferior parts of a clear gray, and brilliant ; feet 

 covered with short and shining hair; tail three- 

 fourths the length of the body, compressed, cover- 

 ed with small scales of a blackish-brown colour; 

 between these are small black hairs, which are 

 longest on its borders. 



Habit. Living in small families on the borders 

 of waters ; swimming w ith facility ; feeding on 

 roots, fruits, &c. copulating in spring, at which 

 period in particular, they shed a strong odour of 

 musk ; female bringing forth five or six young an- 

 nually. 



Inhabit Canada, and the northern and middle 

 states. 



According to Bartram, the "Musk-rat is never 

 seen in Carolina, Georgia, or Florida, within one 

 hundred miles of the sea coast, and very few in 

 the most northern parts of these regions ; which 

 must be considered a most favourable circum- 

 stance in a country where there is so much bank- 

 ing, and draining of the land, they being the most 

 destructive creatures to banks." — Vid. " Travels 

 in North America." 



