SWIMMERS CONCLUDED 



second, so that at such times they are apt to be 

 mistaken for fish rising for insects. A muskrat 

 presents rather a curious appearance when swim- 

 ming beneath the surface, the long over-hair 

 being plastered thickly down over silky fur that 

 is still dry and filled with air, which bulges out 

 between the long hairs in the form of glistening 

 bubbles. 



I recall some years when the ice melted in 

 long spells of fair weather that would have passed 

 for Indian summer a few months earlier, and when 

 there was not enough rain or melting snow to 

 fill the brooks, which constantly receded between 

 tinkling shelves of ice that dripped continually 

 like eaves in rainy weather ; and at such times, 

 of course, the muskrats were compelled to adopt 

 their summer ways almost before the ice vanished 

 from their haunts. 



As is said to be the case with beavers, there 

 are here and there muskrats that appear to take 

 a dislike to the social habits of their race, and 



179 



