THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
reintroduced into Great Britain on the estate of the Marquis of Bute and 
elsewhere. 
The last to be mentioned of the rodents is a small and 
secluded group of animals of the northwestern coast of the 
United States, known in books by their Indian names sewellel 
and showtl, but locally in their Oregon home as mountain 
beavers, or boomers, — the last in reference to the hollow cry. 
They have some relationship to beavers, but are set apart by 
the latest students of their position into a superfamily Aplo- 
dontie. They are small, robust creatures, about a foot long, 
and are brownish, with close fur, short ears, minute eyes, very 
long stiff whiskers, and stubby tails. They dwell in colonies 
in wet mountain meadows, burrowing long tunnels through 
‘the marshy soil, making small heaps of sticks and rubbish, or 
“houses,” above the principal entrance to the underground 
residence, and feeding on bark, herbs, roots, etc. Some of this 
seems to be stored, although they do not hibernate in winter, 
but come out daily, even in snowy times. Their flesh and fur 
were both highly valued by the Indians. These animals are 
nocturnal, shy, and not well known; but what has been learned 
of their habits may be found in the works of Coues and 
Allen,” J. K. Lord,”* and in The American Naturalist, 1877, 
page 434, and 1878, page ro. 
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