beaver cutting down a tree, and at last one came 

 prospecting near where I was hidden. After a 

 prolonged period of repose and possibly reflec- 

 tion he rose, gazed into the treetop, as though 

 to see if it were entangled, then put his fore 

 paws against the tree, spread his hind legs, sat 

 back on his extended tail, and took a bite from 

 the trunk. Everything in his actions suggested 

 that his only intention was to devour the tree 

 deliberately. He did most of the cutting from 

 one side. Occasionally he pulled out a chip by 

 leaning backward ; sometimes he pried it out by 

 tilting his head to the horizontal, forcing his 

 lower front teeth behind it, then splitting it out 

 by using his jaws as a lever. He was a trifle 

 more than an hour in felling a four-inch tree; 

 just before it fell he thudded the ground a few 

 times with his tail and ran away. 



I became deeply interested in this colony, 

 which was situated within two miles of my 

 cabin, and its nearness enabled me to be a fre- 

 quent visitor and to follow closely its fortunes 

 and misfortunes. About the hut-filled pond I 

 lingered when it was covered with winter's 



25 



