Photographing the S matter Mammals 125 



harbor at least several hundred of these little 

 fellows, and yet, except for an occasional squeak 

 and rustle in the grass, we may never know of 

 their presence. 



Let us look beneath the tangled grass and we 

 will find their narrow but well-defined " run- 

 ways " stretching in every direction, intersecting 

 and crossing 

 each other, 

 until we dis- 

 cover that the 

 field is a veri- 

 table network 

 of these mini- 

 ature road- 

 ways, and that 

 there is a pop- 

 ulation and a 

 busy life be- 

 neath our feet of which we have heretofore known 

 nothing. Follow one of these " run-ways." It 

 may lead nowhere and it may lead to the maker's 

 home : a small, round bunch of dead grass, well 

 woven together, half sunken in the ground and 

 thoroughly concealed by the tangle of grass and 

 herbage above. If we approach carefully, we may 

 be fortunate enough to catch the owner at home, 

 coiled up in the soft, warm interior, taking his 

 midday sleep, but we must be quick or he will 



Cotton Mouse. 



