﻿316 
  FAUNA. 
  

  

  tree, 
  by 
  extending 
  his 
  limbs, 
  and 
  expanding 
  the 
  mem- 
  

   brane 
  or 
  skin 
  connecting 
  his 
  fore 
  and 
  hind 
  legs 
  along 
  his 
  

   sides, 
  is 
  truly 
  surprising; 
  the 
  direction 
  is 
  always 
  

   obliquely 
  downward. 
  

  

  The 
  small 
  Black 
  Squirrel 
  confines 
  himself 
  chiefly 
  to 
  

   the 
  low-lands 
  or 
  swamps 
  that 
  are 
  annually 
  inundated. 
  

  

  Our 
  naturalists 
  have 
  been 
  strangely 
  in 
  error 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  

   geographical 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  Beaver. 
  DeKay 
  assigns 
  

   New 
  York 
  as 
  his 
  soutliern 
  limit, 
  and 
  Audubon 
  and 
  Bach- 
  

   man 
  state 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  never 
  seen 
  a 
  Beaver 
  in 
  Lou- 
  

   isiana, 
  although 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  informed 
  that 
  it 
  formerhj 
  

   existed 
  there. 
  

  

  The 
  same 
  cause 
  which 
  has 
  occasioned 
  the 
  preservation 
  

   of 
  the 
  Otter 
  (the 
  departure 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  from 
  the 
  

   country), 
  has 
  tended 
  to 
  the 
  increase 
  of 
  the 
  Beaver, 
  which 
  

   may 
  now 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  ahundant 
  in 
  the 
  State. 
  They 
  

   are 
  found 
  in 
  nearly 
  all 
  of 
  our 
  principal 
  streams, 
  and 
  

   have 
  become 
  rather 
  troublesome 
  in 
  some 
  situations 
  in 
  

   flooding 
  plantations 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  their 
  dams. 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  w^inters 
  since, 
  a 
  party 
  from 
  Ohio 
  spent 
  the 
  

   season 
  in 
  taking 
  Beaver 
  on 
  the 
  Homochitto, 
  and 
  in 
  

   many 
  quarters 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  old 
  hunters 
  habitually 
  trap 
  

   for 
  them. 
  

  

  Our 
  space 
  does 
  not 
  admit 
  of 
  giving 
  details 
  of 
  the 
  

   habits 
  and 
  character 
  of 
  this 
  interesting 
  animal, 
  and 
  I 
  

   must 
  refer 
  those 
  curious 
  in 
  the 
  matter 
  to 
  the 
  Quadru- 
  

   peds 
  of 
  North 
  America^ 
  and 
  DeKay's 
  Natural 
  History 
  

   Report 
  of 
  New 
  York. 
  

  

  The 
  Weasel, 
  Mink, 
  and 
  Muskrat, 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  State; 
  

   the 
  latter 
  in 
  the 
  salt-water 
  creeks 
  near 
  the 
  sea-shore, 
  

   and 
  the 
  former 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  counties 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  

  

  Our 
  large 
  domestic 
  rat 
  is 
  in 
  some 
  situations 
  very 
  nu- 
  

   merous 
  and 
  troublesome, 
  and 
  the 
  terrier 
  and 
  house-cat 
  

   are 
  called 
  in 
  requisition 
  frequently, 
  to 
  suppress 
  them. 
  

  

  