. The Canadian field-naturalist. . Another type uj beaver habitat in Algoncpun Park. burrow tj^pe of habitation, occurring especially on the banks of big rivers, was found to consist typically of the dome, the base and the apron,— an extension over the entrance. The house was either fresh or dull (occupied or unoccupied), the former either a fresh new house or a fresh re- paired house while the latter was a house in any stage of disuse; the oldest record was the scarcely discernible remains which proved to be at least 15 years old. Houses were graded according to the length of time a beaver oc
. The Canadian field-naturalist. . Another type uj beaver habitat in Algoncpun Park. burrow tj^pe of habitation, occurring especially on the banks of big rivers, was found to consist typically of the dome, the base and the apron,— an extension over the entrance. The house was either fresh or dull (occupied or unoccupied), the former either a fresh new house or a fresh re- paired house while the latter was a house in any stage of disuse; the oldest record was the scarcely discernible remains which proved to be at least 15 years old. Houses were graded according to the length of time a beaver occupied them; such as a transient house used by migrant beavers, a nor- mal house not occupied for more than a year which seemed to be the average condition in the park, and the duplex' house occupied for more than a year. This latter type of house was the kind that was found to have the greatest dimen- sions. One ocularly measured in which the beavers had stayed at least 4 years was 30 feet long. 20 feet wide and from 10 to 15 feet high. It was constructed of very large-sized fragments of mainly peeled aspen poplar stems. Houses were found to occupjr three definite situations, 1. The shoreline location where the house had dry land behind it and a water frontage; 2. The bog loca- tion where the house had either bog behind it and a water frontage or bog all around it; 3. The flooded location where the house was entirely or very nearly surrounded by water with or without drowned vegetation. Beaver dams were almost a necessary adjunct to beaver houses on nearly all beaver occupations. As for houses, dams were graded fresh or dull (in use or out of use). They were either plug, dyke, or wing dams, with or without repairs, according to how they were built. The plug dam, simply a barrier across a channel though often attaining heights from 6 to 8 feet but generally about 3 feet high, was seldom over 25 feet in length, usually very straight or slightly bowed downstream. The dyke dam,
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