276 MAMMALIA. 



potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips, and other vegetables stored there. 

 Not many years ago an aged couple lived alone in an old house in 

 the town of Leyden, in Lewis County. They were at one time ver)- 

 much annoyed b\' curious sounds that were heard every night, and 

 sometimes b)' day as well, and which seemed to come from beneath 

 the floor near the open fire-place. Ha\'ing determined at length to 

 investigate the source of these mysterious noises, the aged pair com- 

 menced by removing some of the hearth bricks that covered the very 

 spot whence the sound usually came. Imagine their astonishment 

 to find here two full-i^rown livinj" Muskrats ! The luckless beasts 

 were lifted out with the old iron tongs and slain upon th(; s[)ot. 



The Muskrat, though chiefiy nocturnal, is frequently seen swimming 

 and feeding about the; borders of ponds and streams in the day-time, 

 particularl)- in cloud)- weather. And when resting on the edge of a 

 bog it so resembles a lump of mud as to escape the notice of those 

 unacquainted with its habits. The distance that it can swim under 

 water without cominLT to the surface to breathe is remarkable. 



Its homes are of two principal kinds : luits and burrows. The 

 latter are always present and ma)' be inhabited at all times of the 

 year, while the huts are for winter use and are confined to certain 

 more or less restricted localities. 



The Ijurrows are e.Kcavated in the shores of the water-courses 

 which the animals inhal^it. The entrance is under water, the burrow 

 thence sloping upward into the bank a distance of ten or fifteen feet 

 (3 to 4-2 metres) to an air-chamber eighteen inches (about half a 

 metre) or more in diameter, which often contains a nest. There may 

 be several passages leading to this nest, all of which are under water 

 the greater part of the year. The roof of the air-chamber is generally 

 so near the surface of the ground that it frequently falls in, particularly 

 in pastures where cattle abound. Leading away from it, one or 

 more galleries commonly extend back a considerable distance, keep- 

 ing so near the surface that their occasional " caving in " may result 

 in extensive damajfc to the fields of the farmer. When the animal 



