8io Home Nature-Study Course. 



their food by sousing it up and down in water many times before eating it. Often 

 a muskrat will choose some special point upon the shore of a stream or pond, 

 which it uses for a dining room and here will take its pieces of lily root or fresh 

 water clams to eat them, leaving the debris which indicates the place. The muskrat 

 does most of its hunting for food at night, although sometimes it may be seen in 

 the day time. Whether a muskrat builds itself a winter lodge or not depends 

 somewhat upon the nature of the shore of the stream or pond which it inhabits. 

 If its shores are particularly fitted for burrows then the burrow will be the winter 

 home, but if the banks are shallow several of the muskrats will work together 

 building regular cabins. They use mud and reeds and build upon a foundation of 

 tussocks of rushes in the stream. Upon such a foundation they make a snug- 

 covered chamber. There is usually a passage leading down from this chamber to 

 the water below and an air hole above for ventilation. These cabins may be built 

 also in the low drooping branches of willows or on other objects. In these cabins, 

 cosily cuddled together, three or four in a chamber, the muskrats pass the winter. 

 After the streams are frozen they are safe from their enemies and are always able 

 to go down into the water to get the roots of the water plants when they are 

 hungry. The chambers are usually provided with a nice bed of leaves and moss. 

 When the muskrat burrows in the bank the main entrance is below the surface of 

 the water; the burrow slants upward and the nest is built above the reach of high 

 water, and from the nest an air hole is made for ventilation ; and there is also 

 often a passage leading out to dry land, and the entrance to this passage is hidden. 

 The flesh of the muskrat is very delicious and, therefore, the animal has many 

 enemies; foxes, weasels, dogs, especially the mink, and also hawks and owls prey 

 upon it. It escapes these enemies by swimming and also by having fur which is 

 the color of its surroundings. It is a very courageous animal and fights by biting 

 with its strong incisors. The muskrat dwells in safety during the winter when the 

 friendly ice protects it from all its enemies except the mink ; but it is exposed to 

 great danger when the. streams break up in the spring, for it is then often driven 

 from its cabin by floods and preyed upon while in this helpless condition. The 

 muskrat gives warning of danger to its fellows by splashing the water with its strong 

 tail. It is called muskrat because of the odor which is something like musk; this 

 odor comes from two glands which are on the lower side of the body between the 

 hind legs, and may be seen when the skin is stripped off. 



THE HONEY BEE. 



The best of naturalists have spent years stttdying the habits and adapta- 

 tions of the honey bees, and, as yet, the story of their wonderful ways is 

 not half told. Although we know fairly well what the bees do, yet wo 

 have no inkling of the processes which lead to a perfect government and 

 management of the bee community ; and even the beginner may discover 

 things never known before about these fascinating little workers. In be- 

 ginning this work it might be well to ask the pupils if they have ever heard 



