The color of the beaver is a reddish brown, sometimes shading into a very dark brown. Occasional specimens are white or black. The beaver is not a handsome animal, and when in action on the land he is awkward. The black skin which covers his tail appears to be covered with scales; the skin merely has this form and appearance, the scales do not exist. The tail somewhat resembles the end of an oar. The all-important tools of this workman are his four orange-colored front teeth. These are edge-tools that are adaptable and self-sharpening. They are set in strong jaws and operated by powerful muscles. Thus equipped, he can easily cut wood. These teeth grow with surprising rapidity. If accident befalls them, so that the upper and the lower fail to bear and wear, they will grow by each other and in a short time become of an uncanny length. I have found several dead beaver who had apparently died of starvation; their teeth overlapped with jaws wide open and thus prevented their procuring food. For a time I possessed an overgrown tooth that was crescent-shaped and a trifle more than six inches long. Pounds considered, the beaver is a powerful animal, and over a rough trail will drag objects of twice his own weight or roll a log-section of gigantic size. Up a strong current he will tow an eighty- or one-hundred-pound sapling without apparent effort. Three or four have rolled a one-hundred-and-twenty-pound boulder into place in the dam. Commonly he does things at opportune times and in the easiest way. His energy is not wasted in building a dam where one is not needed nor in constructive work in times of high water. He accepts deep water as a matter of fact and constructs dams to make shallow places deep. Beaver food is largely inner bark of deciduous or broad-leaved trees. Foremost among these trees which they use for food is the aspen, although the cottonwood and willow are eaten almost as freely. The bark of the birch, alder, maple, box-elder, and a number of other trees is also used. Except in times of dire emergency the beaver will not eat the bark of the pine, spruce, or fir tree. It is fortunate that the trees which the beaver fell and use for food or building purposes are water-loving trees, which not only sprout from both stump and root, but grow with exceeding rapidity. Among other lesser foods used are berries, mushrooms, sedge, grass, and the leaves and stalks of a number of plants. In winter dried grass and leaves are sometimes used, and in this season the rootstocks of the pond-lily and the roots of the willow, alder, birch, and other water-loving trees that may be got from the bottom of the pond. Beaver are vegetarians; they do not eat fish or flesh.