244 CROSS-CUT VIEWS OF WINTER. 



ripples are edged with bronze that curl and un- 

 dulate like water snakes, while the little tufts of 

 green grass, mingled with the blue, white and pur- 

 ple pebbles, their colors intensified by the running 

 water, give the bed a brilliant, variegated appear- 

 ance. Over the flowing water a few ephemerids are 

 sporting in the sun, so soon have they felt its in^ 

 fluence. The species are quite small, and resemble 

 gnats when flying. Their wings are grayish white, 

 with numerous black veins, and their slender 

 bodies have two appendages at the end. By this 

 stream a musk-rat has been using his chisels in a 

 fresh green willow branch lately blown down. The 

 notches in it are clearly cut, showing marks like 

 those made by a small, keen carpenter's gouge. 

 Was he gnawing it for food, or cutting logs for 

 his lodgings, like the beaver ? The bark is nibbled 

 only where the deep cuttings were made. One 

 twig a half-inch in diameter has been gnawed 

 in two. Here where the pussy willows grow I 

 notice many of the terminal buds have grown to 

 an unnatural size, and resemble small pine cones 

 with the scales closed. This is the work of that 

 little female gall-fly (^Cecidomyia rigidce). Curi- 

 ously enough, she invariably chooses the topmost 

 bud on which to lay her eggs. When the bud was 



