NATURAL HISTORY. 77 



about, as you have been talking : these little 

 masons have no trowel, but I believe I know 

 of one animal that uses something like that 

 tool." 



" Ah ! What animal is it ?" 

 " Why, I was reading the other day some- 

 thing about the beavers building their dams 

 and their houses, and the book said that they 

 built their houses of logs first, and then plas- 

 tered them with mud, and that they used their 

 tails for trowels." 



" I am very glad to find that you remember 

 what you read ; but I am sorry that your book 

 did not tell you the truth. There have been 

 very strange stories told about the beaver ; 

 and these stones have been taken from one 

 book and printed in another, so that an un- 

 true account has gone down for a great many 

 years. The beaver is very ingenious, but is 

 not quite so much of a mason as you sup- 

 pose." 



" Well, Uncle Philip, will you tell us the 

 truth about it T 



" Yes, boys, I will, so far as I know it myself. 

 I have seen these animals, for they were once a 

 great deal more common in our country than 

 they are now ; and many of the stories told 



