66 VKRTlir.K.VTKS: MAMMALS. 



neath the water, and contains stores (_if barks and roots ; 

 the only opening is beneath the water. The Beaver 

 is reddish-brown ; the fur is soft and fine. It Hves in 

 unsettled parts of North America, but is nearly extinct. 



Rats and Mice. 



There are more than three hundred kinds of these 

 animals, all of which are small. More than one hun- 

 dred and fifty kinds inhabit North America. They 

 devour all sorts of edible substances, animal as well as 

 vegetable, and some even attack living animals. 



The largest, except the Muskrat, is the Norway, 

 Brown, or Wharf Rat, originally from Asia, but now 

 exceedingly abundant in Europe and in this countr\'. 



Fig. 93. ~ Wliite fooled Aiouse. 



The Black Rat, which was introduced into this coun- 

 try from Europe more than three hundred years ago, 

 is nearly as large as the Brown, and was formerly the 

 most common large Rat in stores, houses, barns, and 

 other buildings, but has now nearly disappeared before 

 its more powerful rival, the Brown Rat, which pursues, 

 captures and devours it. If a rat gets wounded, his 

 companions, instead of aiding him, fall upon and 

 devour him. The Roof Rat, of the Southern States, 

 originally from Egypt, where it lives in the thatched 

 roofs of the houses ; the House Mouse, originally from 

 Asia, but now found in all countries ; the Harvest 



