44 



A^ATURE'S CALENDAR 



March 14 



in the spring. Tlie more carefully I ex- 

 amined the fur of the specimen before 

 me, the more I was persuaded that this 

 was actually the case, and that the ermine 

 habitually goes about with only its under- 

 fur on during the spring and summer, to 

 give place to a new coat of short hair, 

 which grows longer and is reinforced by 

 thick under-fur in the autumn ; while the 

 whole turns white in November, through 

 some inexplicable process which works 

 alike with weasel and northern hare and 

 ptarmigan, while the coats of other ani- 

 mals remain practically unchanged as far 

 as color is concerned." 



The rabbits skurrying about the rust- 

 ling brush and sere meadows are not only 

 thin but ragged, and, what is of more ac- 

 count, the pelts of the fur-bearers are no 

 longer of much account to the trapper, 

 because the minks and others of the more 

 southerly woods have been so careless in 

 squeezing through rocky rifts and mouse- 

 holes that they have worn and torn their 

 coats very sadly. The breaking up of the 

 ice lets the muskrat come out of his home 

 and feed on shore, and the raccoon come 

 down to the bank to get his favorite cray- 

 fish and mussels; he has young at this 

 season in some hollow tree. 



The barking of the red squirrel is heard 

 again, and all its cousins come out of their 

 vermin - infested retreats and begin to 

 build clean and cool nests of leaves, for 

 family cares will soon overtake them. 



March 15 



