THE BEAVER. 



81 



ears are scarcely apparent, beino: buried in the fur ; the 

 eyes are small and black ; the tail is little more than half 

 the length of the body, and thinly covered with short 

 hairs. The fur is thick and close ; its colour on the 

 upper parts is dark reddish-brown mixed with gray; on 

 the under surface brownish-white : a black variety some- 

 times occurs. (Fig. 48.) The species is spread over 

 most parts of Europe. 



Water-Rat. 



The Beaver {Castor Fiber). 



The Beaver is not exclusively confined to the northern 

 portions of the American continent. Erman (see 

 ' Journey round the Earth,' &c.) informs us that it 

 " abounds in the Obi, and is taken, not for the sake of 



