When viewed with unbiased attention, these little animals of the wilds
are certain to charm the observer either by their beauty and grace or
by their varied and interesting habits. No one can long study mammals,
large or small, without observing many traits of intelligence so akin
to his own that they awaken feelings of friendly fellowship.
The modes of life of small mammals are much more varied than those of
the larger species. At times radical differences in habits may be noted
among different individuals of the same species, as instanced by the
wood-rats of Santa Margarita Island, some of which live in burrows dug
by themselves in the ground and others in nests built of sticks in the
tops of mangroves rising amid the waters of a lagoon.
An even more extraordinary variation is shown among the heavy-bodied
meadow-mice of the genus _Phenacomys_, most of which live in
underground burrows; but one member of the group in Oregon builds its
nests in the tops of tall conifers, sometimes at an altitude of 80
feet, and rarely or never descends to the ground.