356 



BIRD-LIFE IN WESTERN CANADA 



ly insignificant, but giving a breadth of vision whicli brings 

 the whole sublime panorama before one in a single view. 



From the bird student's standpoint, we were exception- 

 ally fortunate in our choice of a camp-site. Solitaires, Her- 

 mit Thrushes, Robins, Kinglets, White-crowned Sparrows, 



The Ascent to Ptarmigan Pass 



Juncos, Fox Sparrows and Audubon's Warblers, represent- 

 ed the forest avifauna above our tent, but five minutes' climb 

 took us beyond their limits into the Arctic- Alpine zone. The 

 change would not be more complete if one should travel 

 through twenty degrees of latitude, at sea level. 



It was the height of Alpine spring. Bits of azure water 

 marked openings in the ice of the more exposed lakes. The 

 saturated meadows were thickly starred with buttercups. 

 Anemones clustered about the borders of the rai)idly shrink- 

 ing snowfields, and on the rocky slopes, heath and heather, 

 killikinick and Dryas, bloomed luxuriantly. 



