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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by George Shiras, 3d 

 A BEAVER (AT LEFT) EILLING IN THE SLUICEWAY OE THE OLD LOGGING DAM 



(SEE page 198) 



After the sluiceway had been two-thirds filled with water-soaked logs and sticks, it was com- 

 pleted by intertwining bushes and water-grasses, with a stone or log to hold them down. 



possession of swamps and near-by thick- 

 ets. The grouse knew the fox and lynx 

 were equally cautious, and nested con- 

 tentedly at the edge of the clearing. 



Robins, safe from hawks and owls, built 

 numerous nests in the scattered balsam, 

 finding angleworms and berries for their 

 clamorous broods. The night-loving hare 

 nibbled on the clover beneath the midday 

 sun (see page 168) ; the muskrats had 

 trails straight from the creek to the near- 

 est carrot patch ; porcupines chiseled the 

 tender bark of many a sapling; once a 

 beaver gnawed a half-grown ash by the 

 boat-house and only retreated when the 

 flashlight recorded a midnight visit (see 

 page 167). 



Raccoons knew when the corn was 

 tender, and again the flashlight saved the 

 crop ; skunks dug holes beneath the stable 

 floor and now and then picked up a be- 

 lated fowl ; a mink, grown tired of a diet 



of fish, took heavy toll of the snow-white 

 ducks in the swimming-pool (see page 

 166) ; chipmunks found the little potatoes 

 just the things for carrying off; cherry 

 birds gladly changed from the wild to 

 domestic fruit (see page 123), and all day 

 long woodpeckers, nuthatches, catbirds, 

 and jays picked at the suet hung con- 

 veniently near. 



Humming-birds and butterflies flitted 

 among the flowers, beneath which sat 

 little green frogs sure of a meal (see 

 page 174) ; the blue heron stalked at the 

 edge of the stream (see page 169), and 

 none ever had reason to regret a camp 

 wedged in the mighty forest, except those 

 seeking the lives of harmless creatures. 



THE DEER AS MIDNIGHT VISITORS 



The most interesting as well as the 

 most destructive visitors were the deer, 

 for as the gradually enlarging garden 



