N 

 ORDER RODENTIA. 107 



The long hairs, according to M. Desmarest, are reddish 

 brown on the upper part of the body, and red mixed with 

 ash on the sides, and reddish gray underneath. The flanks 

 are marked with a brown spot, the outer side of the thigh 

 ash-coloured ; in general, on the upper parts of the body, 

 the down is ashy near the root, and reddish brown toward 

 the point ; the down of the lower part is of a bright shining 

 gray colour. 



We have, however, before us three drawings of this ani- 

 mal, neither of which accords strictly with the above de- 

 scription as to colour ; one of these we have figured which 

 has very little of the red tint, but has a colour which ap- 

 pears to result from a mixture of white and brown, or as 

 if a lightish brown surface had been powdered with white 

 or gray ; the second is almost uniformly deep brown, and 

 the third is a pure white, with the eyes like the others, and 

 not red. 



Whether permanent varieties or distinct species of the 

 Ondatra corresponding with these drawings will eventually 

 be found, future observation must determine. We have 

 by no means sufficient faith in difference of colour, as a 

 specific character, to employ it without further observation. 



The Ondatra is an inhabitant of Canada and North 

 America, perhaps generally. At the period of its amours, 

 the Ondatra, in common with some other Mammalia, gives 

 a strong scent ; with it indeed this odour is so strong as to 

 be absolutely pernicious, and the Indians have named a 

 river in Canada, which is much frequented by them, the 

 Stinking River. This odour proceeds from a milk-white 

 liquid, secreted by certain glands situated near the parts of 

 generation in both sexes. 



The Ondatra, like the Castor, is a social animal, particu- 

 larly during the winter; in the warmer seasons it is gene- 

 rally found in company with a single mate. They construct 

 retreats of about three feet in diameter, each of which 



