ing through the woods to my ears, 

 teach- ah, teacli-ah, teach-ah, teach-ah, 

 teach-ah very distinct!)'. 



Accent clearly on the first syllable 

 this time. 



Ah! Mr. Burroughs, at last I have 

 found your little "teacher." 



Will anyone tell me wJiy this bird 

 with olive back and speckled, thrush- 

 like breast, is placed in the family 

 Mmotiltidce, or wood warblers, instead 

 of with the Tiirdidcc , or X.hvwshe.s't And 

 why is the "water thrush" also classed 

 with wood warblers, when his olive 

 back and speckled breast make him 

 seem almost a twin brother to the oven 

 bird, while both are so unlike other 

 members of the warbler family, and so 

 much resemble the true thrushes? It 

 was at Glen Haven, beside a mountain 

 brook tumbling down into Skaneateles 

 Lake that I had my first and only view 

 of a water thrush. 



His clear song, repeatedly ringing 

 out above the noisy music of the brook, 

 kept luring me onward and upward 

 over the rough banks, till at length I 

 saw the little walker peering about 

 among the stones for his food. An- 

 other bird closely resembling the 

 thrushes and bearing the name, yet 

 placed in another family, is the brown 

 thrasher, or thrush. I look in my book 

 for his classification. Family Troglo- 



tytid(B\ I can scarcely believe my 

 eyes! Can any one give me any earthly 

 reason why the ornithologists in their 

 wisdom have seen fit to place this bird, 

 with his reddish brown back, speckled 

 breast and beautiful thrush-like song, 

 in the same family with catbirds and 

 wrens? Truly the mysteries of orni- 

 thology are past my comprehension. 



To return to our "teacher." My ac- 

 quaintance with him has not yet ad- 

 vanced to the stage of finding him "at 

 home" in his dwelling. As Neltje 

 Blanchan says, "it is only by a happy 

 accident" that one might "discover the 

 little ball of earth raised above the 

 ground, but concealed by leaves and 

 twigs and resembling a Dutch oven, 

 which gives the bird its name of "oven- 

 bird." Last summer at Pigeon Cove 

 the warning cries of a mother-bird led 

 me to suspect a nest, but I failed to 

 find it. The brood had evidently left 

 their home, for a sudden loud outcry 

 from the mother-bird startled me as 

 the little thrushes scurried out of the 

 path from almost under my feet, while 

 Madame Thrush fluttered about with a 

 pretense of a broken wing to distract 

 my attention. Her "trailing" was quite 

 effective, for by the time I had turned 

 my attention from her performance to 

 the babies, they were quite out of 

 sight. 



THE MUSKRAT. 



[Fiber Zibethicus.) 



THAT part of North America 

 which is included between the 

 thirtieth and sixtieth parallels 

 of north latitude is the home 

 of this species of muskrat, which is the 

 most numerous of the family. It is 

 most plentiful in Alaska and Canada, 

 which are so rich in lakes and rivers. 

 It is described as a large water mole, 

 with a long tail, broad hind paws, a 

 blunt snout, and short, hair covered 

 ears, which may be closed to exclude 

 water. The fur is close, smooth, soft, 

 and lustrous, the woolly under fur be- 



ing extremely delicate, fine, and short; 

 the outer coat has a strong luster, and 

 is double the length of the former. 

 Adult males attain a total length of 

 twenty-three inches, the tail occup)'- 

 ing about half of this. Grassy banks 

 of large lakes or wide, slowly flowing 

 streams and swamps are its favorite 

 haunts, though it is frequently seen 

 about large ponds, grown with reeds 

 and aquatic plants, where it erects a 

 permanent home and dwells either in 

 small colonies or communities of con- 

 siderable numbers. The mode of life 



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