A LITTLE BEAVER 163 



took for that of a baby, but discovered to be the 

 plaint of a tame beaver, which was being abused 

 by some Indian children. So we may conclude 

 that the muskrat and beaver have another point of 

 resemblance in their voices. 



Having found mates, as have the garrulous 

 blackbirds in the trees above them, the ducks 

 splashing into the water beside them, and the 

 bitterns making nuptial rejoicing from drowsy 

 sun-bathed coves, they begin to increase and mul- 

 tiply their kind. In a few favoring seasons the 

 marshes are again populous with furry inhabitants, 

 and the conical huts are thick along the border 

 of the channel in autumn. It is wonderful how 

 through all the years the muskrats maintain their 

 numbers, for they are not sagacious or shy of man; 

 indeed, they frequently establish themselves in 

 close neighborhood to him, and make little at- 

 tempt at concealment. They blunder carelessly 

 into traps, and do not understand the danger signal 

 of human scent. 



A writer on natural history tells us, in illustra- 

 tion of these animals' sagacity, that in swimming 

 from place to place to escape detection they will 

 cover their heads with a green twig held in their 

 mouths. As a matter of fact, however, this is sim- 

 ply their mode of carrying food to their burrows, 

 and usually their burdens do not conceal their 

 heads at all, but trail beside or behind them. 



