228 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March 



trees, shrubs and bushes to the delightful flower-laden mountain 

 meadows above, the idea that every fresh zone of vegetation 

 is teeming with animate life characteristic of each altitude, 

 must come somewhat as a surprise. This, however, is known 

 actually to be the case by all who have been fortunate enough 

 to enjoy such a climb as my companion and I did last August. 

 From the base to the very summits capped with snow, which 

 at a distance seem to be so bare and forbidding, we find that 

 not onlv the plants but the animals, birds, and insects, keep 

 rapidly changing with each succeeding modification of the 

 conditions of life, due to the varying altitudes. The recognition 

 of the various denizens of the mountain forests, streams, 

 meadows, and rocky crags, as each group appears and then gives 

 place to others better able to stand the rigours of higher 

 altitudes, gives an indescribable charm and exhilarating zest 

 to an ascent of one of these mountains. 



On leaving the hotel we piished on through the woods 

 with our eyes ever on the alert to notice the different trees, 

 shrubs and abundant flowering plants. A circuitous path up 

 the side of the mountain brought us to the Lakes in the Clouds, 

 Lake Agnes and Mirror Lake, two beautiful pieces of water 

 which lie on the flanks of St. Piran. Here we hoped to find 

 Argynnis alberta among the shrubs and low groves of conifers, 

 but we were too late in the season to get this local treasure. 

 Above the lakes the mass of the mountain slopes away gradually 

 to the summit over meadows which were ablaze with lovely 

 alpine flowers and where clumsy bumble bees hummed busily 

 from one bright blossom to another. Many of these beautiful 

 mountain blossoms were of so much interest that we cannot 

 pass them by, and indeed they were the chief interest of our 

 expedition, for with the exception of a few moths, one or two 

 butterflies, and some small insects of various orders, found here 

 and on the surface of the snowfields at the summit, our expedi- 

 tion was rather unproductive in specimens, although most 

 enjoyable from the opportunity of seeing new friends in all 

 forms of life, among the sublime surroundings of the mighty 

 mountains which form the backbone of our continent. The 

 scenery in that part of the main chain of the Rockies is beyond 

 description magnificent. From the summit of Mount St. Piran 

 we looked down upon the lakes below with the Chalet nestling, 

 half hidden among the trees, at one end of Lake Louise, and 

 further off in the valley of the Bow, a slender thread showed 

 where the railway made it possible for new lovers of nature to 

 come and enjoy this wonderland. Bevond this again, across 

 the Bow Valley, was the great Sawback Range. Nearer to us 



