LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



wander away by themselves, usually following 

 the course of some little brook near the source 

 of which they take up their lonely abode. One 

 of these hermits made his burrow beneath a 

 little bridge in our pasture one spring, and lived 

 there for several months. I frequently saw him 

 swimming up or down the brook, which, except 

 immediately beneath the bridge, was only just 

 big enough for his passage, so that in order to 

 turn round he was under the necessity of climbing 

 out on the bank. When alarmed, he generally 

 sank at once to the bottom, completely damming 

 the stream, which rose and poured over him in 

 a miniature cascade. In swimming down-stream 

 he adjusted his speed to that of the current, and 

 so was able to pass along with comparatively little 

 disturbance ; but going in the opposite direction, 

 he made a spectacle of himself sure to attract the 

 attention of any one who might be near by. 



The excessive rainfall of the summer of 1898 

 evidently deluded certain of the more inexperi- 



