70 



NATURE'S CALENDAR 



April i6 relative, the common mink, is similarly 



rejoicing in an addition of four or more 

 to its family, hidden in some den among 

 rocks or beneath the roots of a ]ialf-dead 

 tree; and for both of these an ample 

 provision of young field-mice is at hand. 



The otter — now alas! rare within the 

 Eastern States — was also wont to breed 

 in the early spring. " The nest of the 

 otter," we are told by Merriam, " is gen- 

 erally placed under some shelving bank 

 or uprooted tree, and has been found in a 

 hollow stub. Her young are commonly 

 brought forth about the middle of April, 

 and two (rarely one or three) constitute a 

 litter." 



In a similar place young gray foxes see 

 the light— perhaps earlier in the Southern 

 States, to which this species is now main- 

 ly confined ; and the kittens of the bay 

 lynx are mewing in their warm nest 

 beneath some fallen tree or protecting 

 slab of rock far in the forest. 



The coats of all the fur-bearers are now 

 ragged and worthless, for molting has be- 

 gun, and the under-fur is beginning to 

 come out. The females of most of them 

 are in retirement, for the young of the 

 larger part of the smaller mammals of the 

 northwestern part of the country are 

 born in April or May. The game ani- 

 mals are coming out of the deep woods, 

 and seeking open places, or climbing 

 high up in the hills, for the flies are 

 beginning to be troublesome, and, more- 



