File:Birds and nature (1901) (14775561773).jpg

Identifier: birdsnature91901chic (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: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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and with thegeographical location. Those found far-ther to the northward are usually darker.Albinos, either pure white, nearly whiteor with white blotches, have been ob-served. The fur consists of an exceedinglythick, flaky, woolly coat of silky softnessand a thin, long outer coat composed ofstrong, stiff, shining hair, short 011 thehead and rear part of the back and overtwo inches long on the rest of the body.The tail, which is rounded at the base.much flattened and very broad, bearshorny, dark-colored scales. The fore legs are short and the feet areunwebbed. The hind legs are muchstronger, the feet are fully webbed andthey, alone, are used, with the aid o\ the.tail, to propel the Beaver through thewater. In the water it is graceful in itsmotions, but on the land, like nearly allanimals that are fitted for a partiallyaquatic life, it is clumsy and awkward amiits motions are neither rapid nor uniform. Usually it is onl\ in those districts thatare remote from the habitations of man 170
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that the Beaver lives in colonies, consist-ing of several families, and builds itslodges. Nearer civilization it lives inburrows or tunnels. In the building oftheir homes, as well as in the storing ofa supply of food, the female is the mostactive and is the practical builder, whilethe male assists. Brehm writes interestingly regardingthe Beaver. He says: After mature de-liberation the animals select a stream orpool, the banks of which afford them am-ple provender and seem specially adaptedfor the construction of their lodges.Those which live singly dwell in simplesubterranean burrows, after the mannerof otters ; societies, which generally con-sist of families, as a rule construct housesand, if there should be a necessity for it,dams, in order to hold back the water andpreserve it at a uniform height. Some ofthese dams are from four hundred andfifty to six hundred feet long, from six tonine feet high, from twelve to eighteenfeet thick at the base and from three to sixfeet at the top. T

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