upper
side they were covered, like the field-vole's, with close, stiff hair
set in regular lines from the toes to the elbows of the front limbs and
to the ankles of the hind-legs, where the long, fine fur of the body
took its place. A slight webbing crossed the toes of his hind-feet--so
slight, indeed, that it assisted him but little in swimming--and his
tiny, polished claws were plum-coloured. Except when he was listening
intently for some sign of danger, his small, round ears were almost
concealed in his thick fur. His mate was of smaller and more delicate
build--this was especially noticeable when once I saw her swim with
Brighteye through the clear water beneath the bank--and she was clad in
sombre brown and grey.

Household and similar duties soon began to claim attention in and around
the riverside dwelling. The green grass was growing rapidly under the
withered blades that arched the run-ways between the river's brink and
the woodland path; and, as the voles desired to keep these run-ways
clear, they assiduously cut off all encroaching stems and brushed them
aside. The stems dried, and in several places formed a screen beneath
which the movements of the voles were not easily discernible. Selecting
the best of the dry grass-stalks, the voles carried them home, and,
after much labour, varied with much consultation in which small
differences of opinion evidently occurred, completed, in the sleeping
chamber beneath the willow-roots, a large, round nest. The magnitude of
their labour could be easily inferred from the appearance of the nest:
each grass-blade carried thither had been bitten into dozens of
fragments, and the structure filled the entire space beyond the first of
the exposed roots, though its interior, till from frequent use it
changed its form, seemed hardly able to accommodate the female vole.

In this tight snuggery, at a time when the corncrake's nocturnal music
was first heard in the meadow by the pool, five midget water-voles,
naked and blind, were born. Brighteye listened intently to the faint,
unmistakable family noises issuing therefrom, and then, like a
thoughtful dry-nurse, went off to find for his mate a tender white root
of horse-tail grass. For several nights he was assiduous in his
attentions to the mother vole; and afterwards, his house-keeping duties
being suspended, he became a vigilant sentinel, maintaining constant
watch over the precious family within his home.

When the baby voles