SWIMMERS 



But the most distinctive feature is the mark 

 made by the muskrat's tail, which is often 

 dragged continuously, marking a distinct and un- 

 broken line between the footprints several rods 

 in length, and when this is not the case, is nearly 

 always found to touch here and there at intervals, 

 either between the tracks or at one side. 



In summer and early autumn when the streams 

 are low and the leaves are at their thickest, minks 

 are particularly fond of prowling about swamps 

 and wet woodlands, keeping to the lowest level 

 with all the pertinacity of running water, and fol- 

 lowing the drying channels of the smaller brooks 

 for miles together, where the reduced waters just 

 linger along through the depressions in the black 

 mud mottled with whatever of sunlight or moon- 

 light manages to find its way between the leaves. 



Here they undoubtedly capture insects and 



birds in abundance, as well as frogs and small fish. 



For in times of drought practically all the wild 



life of the woods congregates about such places, or 



9 129 



