At the end of May or early in June the hind seeks a sequestered situation amid covert in which to give birth to her fawn. The fawns, of which there may occasionally be twins, are extremely helpless at birth, but in a short time gain sufficient strength to run by the side of their mothers. THE BEAVER (_Castor fiber_) The beaver enjoys the distinction of being the only warm-blooded quadruped that is in the habit of making really noticeable modifications in the appearance of the earth’s surface. Many quadrupeds, such as foxes, ant-bears, rabbits, and rats and mice burrow holes in the ground, while the mole marks the course of its subterranean tunnels by throwing up heaps of earth at intervals. But although such excavations and hillocks, when sufficiently numerous, may to a slight degree affect the appearance of a meadow, they are nothing in comparison to the changes brought in a valley by a colony of beavers. By throwing a dam across its course, these industrious rodents will convert a narrow stream into a wide sheet of stagnant water, which in the course of time may become silted up so as to form a broad and level “beaver-meadow,” where there was originally a rocky valley. In or near their dams beavers likewise construct dwellings of mud and clay, known in America as “lodges,” for their own accommodation. But this is by no means all beavers accomplish in the way of “public works,” for, by means of the single pair of powerful chisel-like teeth in the fore part of each jaw and the powerful muscles by which the jaws themselves are worked, these animals, which are about the size of an ordinary spaniel, are enabled to fell trees of considerable size, which are used in the construction of their dams. Beavers are the sole living representatives of a family of rodents allied on the one hand to squirrels and dormice, and on the other to rats and mice. Two structural peculiarities are very characteristic of these rodents. In the first place, one of the toes of the fore-foot is provided with a double claw, which may be used in dressing the beautiful, long brown fur; a similar structure occurring in the smaller rodent known as the Arctic lemming (_Dicrostonyx torquatus_). Secondly, there is the remarkable flattened, scaly tail, which almost looks as though it did not belong to the animal, although in reality, except for its superior size, it is not much more abnormal than the scaly cylindrical tail of the rat. Several myths attach to the beaver’s tail; it was said, for instance, to be employed as a trowel for plastering down the mud used in building the dams and lodges, although its real use is to act as a rudder in swimming, more especially when its owner is transporting the trunk of a felled tree. When entering the water, or when engaged in playing therein, the beaver frequently makes a resounding “smack” by striking the surface with its tail. [Illustration]