THE OTTAWA NATURALIST 



VOL. XXI. 



OTTAWA, MARCH, 1908 



No. 12 



MOUNTAIN SPRITES. 

 By Dr. James Fletcher, Ottawa. 



(Delivered Dec. 10th at the opening meeting of the 

 Winter Course, 1907-8.) 



As T came into the hall this evening I was asked whether 

 Mountain Sprites were birds, beasts or fishes, or at any rate 

 to which branch of natural history sprites belonged. A sprite 

 the dictionary tells us is a spirit, a shade, an apparition, and I 

 have never yet found in nature anything to which such a title 

 could be quite so appropriately applied as to the very elusive 

 soberly coloured or extremely active butterflies which one finds 

 on the summits of high mountains, where they flit up suddenly 

 from the broken rocks, appear for a second or two and then 

 close their wings and drop into a crevice or over a precipice 

 where pursuit is impossible. Another disconcerting device is 

 to drop suddenly to the ground and feign death, when followed 

 closely, where they lie over sideways among the broken rocks 

 with which such places are strewn, and thus become instantly 

 and most effectually invisible. On the other hand these 

 attractive creatures may come dashing at you out of space 

 as soon as a ray of sunshine warms up the snow fields or rugged 

 rocks, and then as suddenly disappear over a cliff or beyond a 

 pile of rough boulders where pursuit is most difficult. 



It may not be amiss to remind you, here, that chasing butter- 

 flies in the rarefied atmosphere and among the loose rocks on 

 the bare summits, or on the boulder-strewn slopes of a mountain 

 over 8,000 feet high, is an entirely dift'erent proposition from 

 even a long trying chase over level meadows and through the 

 woods of the lowlands. The very fatigue of violent exercise 

 of all kinds at such heights is a factor which constantly forces 

 itself upon one. Added to this any recklessness, accidental 

 stumble or mis-step near the edge of a ravine may easily result 

 in a serious accident, involving perhaps a sudden and involuntary 

 descent of some thousands of feet. 



