234 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
effect from Hallgren (Svensk. Jiig. Nya Tidskrift, 1869, p. 52), that 
“twenty to thirty years ago it was found commonly in all fjeld 
districts; beaver huts and dams are still not rare by water-courses 
in the fjeld districts.” The former existence of this animal to 
the west of the parish of Lom, Gudbrandsdalen, Norway, is shown 
by the names “ Boeyerdal” and “‘ Boevertun Seter.” I am not 
aware of any book in English which gives any information on the 
subject.* 
On July 24, 1877, I visited by boat a beaver-lodge at S ro 
the only one near the house where, by the kindness of Mr. G., 
the owner of the land, I was staying. This lodge being of old 
construction, it was difficult to make out exactly how much of it 
was really the work of the Beaver, all one could see being a few 
holes in the bank of a large island of several acres extent in the 
middle of the river. I believe, however, the state of affairs is 
this:—A pair of Beavers make a house of logs and sticks at the 
side of an island, and by degrees, in the floods, earth gets washed 
all over it and trees grow on it, so that it eventually gets joined 
on to, and made part and parcel of, the island, making it almost 
impossible to tell how much is natural. 
We found plenty of Beavers’ “runs” from the water well up 
on to the island, and plenty of tracks, which, considering it had 
rained hard all the previous night, could hardly have been older 
than that morning. ‘There were also plenty of twigs lying about 
which they had bitten off the trees, and an alder cut down by 
them, about as big round as the lower end of one’s thigh. 
Altogether there was a great deal of work for two animals, the 
only two, it was said, in that immediate neighbourhood. At one 
place at the bottom of the water could be seen a large accumulation 
of barked branches, which I was told was the remains of an old 
lodge. My knowledge of Norse was at that period very limited ; 
but if I understood rightly, the Beavers construct lodges of 
branches each spring, which are sooner or later in the season 
destroyed by the timber, which, when felled,—according to 
custom in Norwegian forests,—is dragged to the nearest point 
* Some brief remarks on the subject will be found in Bowden's ‘ Naturalist in 
Norway.’—Ep. 
+ I shall, I hope, be excused for not giving in full the names of the localities. 
The first alluded to, however, is the well-known Beaver colony mentioned by 
Lilljeborg. 
thy 
