THE MOUNTAINS 



361 



over the 5j;rouii(l until they were withiu diving- reach of tlieir 

 own doors, when they stopped, sat up and whistled shrilly ; 

 hundreds of ground squirrels piped from the meadows and, 

 I'roui the rock slides, the pika or little chief hare, uttered a 

 (•nil siiigulail\- like the sound produced by blowing on a 

 hlade of grass held l)etween the thuiuhs. 



Ptarmigan on Snow 



Snow Finches in scattered companies, fed restlessly 

 ahout the border of the snowfields, or gathered insects 

 which had fallen on the snow itself. It was only when on the 

 snow, or when while in flight they called their crossbill-like 

 chuck, chuck, that they w^ere easily observed. 



Pipits fed on the meadows, or rang the little bell of their 

 flight song, from high in the air, and, finally, my willing ear 

 caught a new note, a loud, high, squealing, crowing call, fol- 

 lowed by a chattering, chuckling chut -chut -chut, which could 

 have been uttered only by a Ptarmigan, and I was just in 

 time to see two birds alight near the base of a rock slide. 

 The spot was reached as quickly as the nature of the ground 



