distinctively native animals, the muskrat retains, even in popular 

 usage, the name by which the Indians called him, ''musquash," and 

 whatever the strict meaning may be, its sound surely suggests this 

 big rat diving down into the marshy pool, swishing along through 

 the soft mud, or flapping his stiff scaly tail among the rushes as a 

 warning to his mates. 



His body tells us where nature intended him to live, for with its 

 dark brown upper parts shading into reddish on the sides and white 

 underneath, it could never be distinguished except by motion from 

 the miry swamp where it looks like nothing but a mere lump of 

 mud. We do not usually think of rats as water lovers, but this 

 one enjoys best his existence when lazily floating about in the 

 sunny warmth of some shallow pool, or on hot summer days in the 

 cool little inlets beneath overhanging branches. 



He is an excellent swimmer, for while his feet are only par- 

 tially webbed, his naked flat tail is curiously carried on edge and 



140 



