Identifier: birdsnature731900chic (find matches)
Title: Birds and nature
Year: 1900 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Birds Natural history
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Mumford, Publisher
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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T part of North Americawhich is included between thethirtieth and sixtieth parallelsof north latitude is the homeof this species of muskrat, which is themost numerous of the family. It ismost plentiful in Alaska and Canada,which are so rich in lakes and rivers.It is described as a large water mole,with a long tail, broad hind paws, ablunt snout, and short, hair coveredears, which may be closed to excludewater. The fur is close, smooth, soft,and lustrous, the woolly under fur be- ing extremely delicate, fine, and short;the outer coat has a strong luster, andis double the length of the former.Adult males attain a total length oftwenty-three inches, the tail occup)-ing about half of this. Grassy banksof large lakes or wide, slowly flowingstreams and swamps are its favoritehaunts, though it is frequently seenabout large ponds, grown with reedsand aquatic plants, where it erects apermanent home and dwells either insmall colonies or communities of con-siderable numbers. The mode of life 122
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of a muskrat is in many respects likethat of the beaver, for which reason theIndians call the two animals brothers,and affirm that the beaver is the olderand more intelligent of the two. Theburrows of the muskrat consist ofplain underground chambers, with sev-eral tunnels, all terminating underwater, or of strongholds above ground.These are of a round or dome shape,stand on a heap of mud, and rise abovethe surface of the wat^r. They arelined with reeds, reed grass, and sedge,cemented with mud; the interior of thelodge contains a single chamberfrom sixteen to twenty-four inches indiameter. A tunnel which opens be-neath the water leads to it. In winterit lines its chambers softly with waterlilies, leaves, grasses, and reeds, pro-viding for ventilation by loosely cov-ering the center of the dome-shapedroof with plants, which admit a suffi-cient quantity of fresh air and let thevitiated air out. As long as the pondor swamp does not freeze to the verybottom it is said to lead a highly com-

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