LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



the clusters of leafy buds as they came along. 

 The birds were now giving warning upon all 

 sides of a hawk in sight, and a large one at that ; 

 but the muskrat, although now at a consider- 

 able distance from the water, took no notice of 

 the general outcry, and even when a crow sailed 

 over with high-pitched, angry cawing, refused to 

 look up from his meal, until at last, having ap- 

 parently satisfied himself, he climbed down to 

 the water and sculled away until hidden by a 

 bend of the river. 



Further down, where the stream becomes 

 narrow and deep, and the banks rise abruptly 

 from the water without any fringe of rushes and 

 sedge, I saw another swimming along near the 

 opposite bank. On coming to a tussock, he 

 clambered to the top of it, and after snuffing 

 about for a few seconds, carefully lowered him- 

 self into the water again without a splash, to 

 repeat the performance at the next tussock he 

 reached ; then, cutting a half-circle out into mid- 

 188 



