ALONG FOUR-FOOTED TRAILS 



on his naked tail. After squeaking three times 

 he ran to the other end of the log, plunged into 

 the water and secured a clam for himself. The 

 first muskrat gnawed at the clam-shell for some 

 time when it seemed to open ; then he pulled 

 the animal out with his paw and ate it. 



The rats seemed to forget the struggle of but 

 a moment before as each dived, secured and ate 

 his clams. While they were thus busily engaged 

 our attention was attracted by the excited calls 

 of a blue-jay. Looking up we saw a large 

 marsh-hawk sailing slowly and smoothly on 

 noiseless wings with its owl-like face and big 

 yellow eyes peering downward over the all un- 

 conscious muskrats. With one quick dive the 

 hawk swooped upon the smallest rat. With his 

 sharp talons he bore the luckless animal away 

 to his home among the bunches of slough-grass 

 and sunflowers. The other rat dived into the 

 water and swam for some distance before he 

 ventured to come to the surface for a breath of 

 air and to see if he was out of harm's way. He 

 floated for a few minutes, looked all around him 

 and then swam up stream. As he passed us I 

 spoke. Instantly he dived into the water and 

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