AMERICAN BEAVER. 133 



their teeth. It has been erroneously supposed that the 

 wood- work is first completed and then plastered ; but 

 this is not the case ; as our traveller observes that the 

 whole is one mass of wood^ mud, and stones. The two 

 latter materials are conveyed by these little architects in 

 their paws, and are held close under their throat ; but 

 the wood is always dragged by the aid of their power- 

 ful teeth. All these works are executed in the night ; 

 and with so much expedition, that in the course of one 

 night they will collect many thousands of their little 

 handfuls. When a new habitation is to be erected, 

 the beavers begin to fell the necessary wood early in 

 summer; and although they commence building towards 

 autumn, they never completely finish the roof until the 

 cold weather has set in. Their instinct in this latter 

 occupation is really astonishing. They add a fresh 

 coat of mud to the roof every autumn ; but they delay 

 this operation as long as possible, as if they were per- 

 fectly conscious of the security which their work woidd 

 derive from the effects of the first frost, which, by 

 freezing the newly tempered mud, renders it as hard as 

 a stone, and prevents their common enemy, the wol- 

 verine, from disturbing them during the approaching 

 winter. They are frequently seen to walk over their 

 work, as if to ascertain its stability, and sometimes to 

 give it a flap with their tail. 



Their food chiefly consists of the large roots of the 

 yellow water-lily {Nuphar luteum), and the bark of 

 trees, both which are hoarded during summer as pro- 

 visions for the v,rinter. In spring they leave their 

 houses; and after roaming about during summer, feeding 

 upon berries and herbage, return to their habitation a 

 little before the fall of the leaf. 



In a domesticated state, the beaver is a particularly 

 engaging animal. Mr. Hearne mentions having kept 

 several which learned to answer to their names, and 

 to follow those to whom they were attached, precisely 

 like a dog, and they were equally fond of being caressed. 

 In cold weather, continues our traveller, " they were kept 

 K 3 



