BEAVER. 
259 
Muffafcus Smith's Virginin, 27. Caftoi* cauda verticaliter plana, Mtisjc 
Mufquafh, Jcffclyns <voy. Nezu digitis omnibus a fednvicemfe- 9 
England, 86.. paratis. Briffon quad. 93. 
IVIuik rat. Lazvjon Carolina, 120. L "'Ondatra, de Buff on, x. i. tab. i. 
Cailor Zibethicus, C. cauda Rat Mufque,. CbarlBvqix Noim. 
longa compreffo-lanceolata, pe- France, V. 157. Lefcarbot N. Fr . 
dibus Mis. Lin.fyjl. 79. 350. , 
E. with a thick blunt nofe : ears fhort, and almoft 
hid in the fur : eyes large : toes on each foot fepa- 
rated thofe behind fringed on each fide with Urong 
hairs, clofely fet together : tail compreffed Tideways, 
and very thin at the edges, covered with fmall 
fcales, intermixed with a few hairs : color of the 
head and body a reddifh brown : brcaft and belly, 
aih-color, tinged with red : the fur very fine : 
length, from nofe to tail, one foot; of the tail, nine 
inches : in the form of its body, exactly refembles 
a beaver. 
Inhabits N. America: breeds 3 or 4 times in a year % 
and brings from 3 to 6 young at a time : during hum¬ 
mer, the male and female confort together: at ap¬ 
proach of winter, unite in families, and retire into 
fmall round mdifces, covered with a dome, formed 
of herbs and reeds cemented with clay: at the bottom 
are feveral pipes, thro’ which they pafs in fearch of 
food ; for they do not form magazines like the bea¬ 
vers ; during winter, their habitations are covered 
many feet deep with fnow and ice •, but they creep 
out and feed on the roots that lie beneath : they quit 
their old habitations annually, and build new ones: 
the fur is foft, and much efteemed: the whole ani¬ 
mal. 
* M. S. Iff. Hudfons ay. 
S 2 
