NOTES BY THE WAY 



heart : the material was very scarce, the ice hin- 

 dered ; and before the basement story was fairly 

 finished, Winter had the pond under his lock and 

 key. 



In other localities I noticed that, where the nests 

 were placed on the banks of streams, they were 

 made secure against the floods by being built amid 

 a small clump of bushes. When the fall of 1879 

 came, the muskrats were very tardy about begin- 

 ning their house, laying the corner-stone or the 

 corner-sod about December 1, and continuing the 

 work slowly and indifferently. On the 15th of 

 the month the nest was not yet finished. This, I 

 said, indicates a mild winter; and, sure enough, 

 the season was one of the mildest known for many 

 years. The rats had little use for their house. 



Again, in the fall of 1880, while the weather- 

 wise were wagging their heads, some forecasting a 

 mild, some a severe winter, I watched with interest 

 for a sign from my muskrats. About November 1, 

 a month earlier than the previous year, they began 

 their nest, and worked at it with a will. They ap- 

 peared to have just got tidings of what was com- 

 ing. If I had taken the hint so palpably given, 

 my celery would not have been frozen up in the 

 ground, and my apples caught in unprotected places. 

 When the cold wave struck us, about November 

 20, my four-legged " I-told-you-so's " had nearly 

 completed their dwelling; it lacked only the ridge- 

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