2044 The Zoologist— March, 1870. 



luiid, and below the iuflueiice of frosl. The houses are also provided 

 uith a kind of second floor above the water-level, on which the musk 

 rats lie on a bed of soft dry grass. Is all this provision the result of 

 instinct ? If so, how admirably it agrees with a like provision on the 

 part of the Esquimaux ! and again, why do not the musk rats of 

 Louisiana provide a similar winter retreat; as also the Indians of 

 Florida and other southern States of America ? No! animals, like men, 

 adapt themselves to circumstances. Why then separate these like 

 senses, and term that of man "wisdom" and that of animals "in- 

 stinct"? There may be fools among animals — there certainly are 

 among men. 



At the commencement of these "zoological notes" I stated my in- 

 tention of following the classification of Professor Spencer F. Baird, 

 and I have done so; but I cannot agree with that learned author in 

 so far separating this species from the beaver, not only generically, 

 which is right, but by the introduction of whole families, and others 

 bearing that unnatural and unmeaning teriu " subfamilies." The two 

 animals are not only intimately connected by appearance, — indeed so 

 much so that the great Linnaeus niistakably placed both in the genus 

 Castor, — but those who, like myself, have lived amid the haunts of 

 both, have invariably been struck with the similarity in their economy 

 — and what more important points than similarity of structure and 

 economy should take precedence in a vatiiral classification ? 



The food of musk rats consists of the stems and roots of aquatic 

 ])lants, bark, fresh-water clams {Uiiios), and ))erhaps other niollusks. 

 The females bring forth six to nine young at a birth, during the 

 summer, and ap})ear to breed only once a year in Newfoundland. 

 Large spring skins of the musk rat fetch twenty cents : at this season 

 the musk-like odour is very powerful. 



LErOKlD^. 



l^clar Hare, Lepus glacialis, Leach. — This is the only species of 

 leporine found in Newfomidland, and appears tolerably plentiful 

 throughout the island. It is a thoroughly alpine species, never 

 descending to the plains, except when driven to do so in search of 

 Ibod during two or three months in the depth of winter. This is the 

 largest species of hare with which I am acquainted ; ordinary 

 specimens weigh from nine to ten pounds, while others are said to 

 have been killed weighing as much as fourteen pounds. The tips of 

 the ears are black on both sides. The markings are generally very 



