THE PERSISTENT BEAVER ce 
tumbled into the water. The others showed 
no surprise at this accident. 
The one in the water did not mind but swam 
outward where he was caught in the current 
that started to carry him over the dam. At this 
stage his mother appeared. She simply rose 
beneath him. He accepted the opportunity 
and squatted upon her back with that expression- 
less face which beavers carry most of the time. 
There are occasions, however, on which beavers 
show expression of fear, surprise, eagerness, 
and even intense pleasure. The youngster sat 
on his mother’s back as though asleep while she 
swam with him to the house. Here he climbed 
off in a matter-of-fact way, as though a ride on 
a ferry-boat was nothing new to him. 
A few weeks later the mother robin who had 
become so wrought up over my hiding had 
times of dreadful excitement concerning the 
safety of her children. If anything out of the 
usual occurs, the robin insists that the worst pos- 
sible is about to happen. This season the mother 
robin had nested upon the top of the beaver 
house. This was one of the safest of places, 
but so many things occurred to frighten her 
that it is a wonder she did not die of heart 
disease. The young robins were becoming rest- 
less at the time the young beavers were active. 
Every morning, when on the outside of the 
