tBv ‘VtM >2? (5) 
CONCORD. 
1892 
^L 
' V 
Mu sic-rat * s 
nest with 
young in 
boat-house 
&r 
After breakfast I rode in the farm wagon to above 
Cyrus Clark's, walking back and taking a few photographs 
by the way. Field Sparrows and Crass Finches singing. Also 
a Black-billed Cuckoo. Oven-bird feeding young in the trees.]] 
At 11 A. M. I started for Ball's Hill. On opening 
my boat-house I was surprised to discover a great deal of 
water-soaked vegetation ^largely bladderwort and Pontederia ) 
placed on the flooring just inside the door and built up 
about the stern of one of my canoes to the height of a foot 
or more. Near the centre of this heap was a deep, circular 
hollow as smooth and symmetrical as the cup of a Robin's 
nest and about as large as the interior of a Crow's nest. 
This was very neatly lined with fine green grass, perfectly 
fresh, soaking wet, and all of the same kind.‘ ,r A brown 
object slipped out of this hollow as I threw back the door 
and paused in a timid, shrinking attitude on the floor behind. 
As soon as my eyes became accustomed to the gloom I made out 
this animal to be a large Musk-rat and on examining the nest 
I found in the bottom of the hollow six baby Musk-rats, 
blind, perfectly naked, with absolutely round tails, and skin 
of a uniform soft mouse color above, pinkish flesh color 
below. They were about as large as full-grown Field Mice 
but were perfectly helpless, lying cuddled together in a 
mass and writhing incessantly like so many big grubs 
just unearthed. The mother quickly disappeared, probably 
I 
