Scarcely a bush marks its
course, and within a few yards it is quite invisible.
As we shall presently see, the brooks of the chalk downs of Wiltshire,
and of the regular mixture of rock and level ground, which are
characteristic of Derbyshire, have also their own separate
individualities.
We shall, however, find many allusions to them in the course of the
work, and we will therefore suppose ourselves to be approaching the bank
of any brook that is but little disturbed by man. What will be likely to
happen to us will be told in the following chapters.
CHAPTER II.
Life-history of the water-rat--No science can stand alone--What is a
water-rat?--The voles of the land and water--Their remarkable teeth--The
rodents and their incisor teeth--The tooth and the chisel--The skate
"iron"--Chewing the cud--Teeth of the elephant--Feet of the
water-vole--A false accusation--Water-voles in gardens--Winter
stores--Cats and water-voles--Subterranean pioneering--Mental character
of the water-vole--Standing fire--Its mode of eating.
Plop!
A water-rat has taken alarm, and has leaped into the brook.
A common animal enough, but none the less worthy of notice because it is
common.
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