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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



vegetation they frequent. The marsh rabbits 

 live in cypress or other fresh-water swamps, 

 heavily wooded bottoms, and fresh water, as 

 well as brackish marshes. They feed on a va- 

 riety of vegetation growing in such places and 

 dig up such edible roots as the wild potato and 

 amaryllis. 



Both marsh and swamp rabbits have several 

 litters of from two to six young each season, 

 laeginning in April. The young are born in 

 large, well-made covered nests, which are built 

 of rushes, grasses, and leaves and lined with 

 hair from the parents. The nests, which have 

 an entrance on one side, are usually located in 

 the midst of dense growths of vegetation or on 

 tussocks, in low, swampy places, and are some- 

 times surrounded by water. In the most fre- 

 quented parts of marsh and swamp these rab- 

 bits make well-trodden trails through the dense 

 vegetation. 



When alarmed, marsh rabbits run for tlie 

 nearest water, into which they plunge and swim 

 quickly to the shelter of aquatic plants or other 

 cover. When cut off from escape by water 

 they try to avoid capture by doubling and turn- 

 ing, but are so short-legged that they are read- 

 ily overtaken by a dog. The tracks of these 

 rabbits in the mud differ from those of the 

 cottontails in showing imprints of the spread- 

 ing toes. 



In South Carolina Bachman once found nu- 

 merous marsh rabbits in the thickets about re- 

 cently flooded rice fields and swamps.^ When 

 he beat the bushes the rabbits plunged into the 

 water and swam away so rapidly that some 

 escaped from a Newfoundland dog which ac- 

 companied him. Several, apparently thinking 

 themselves unnoticed, stopped and remained 

 motionless about fifteen yards from the shore, 

 with only their eyes and noses showing above 

 water. Thus concealed in the muddy water, 

 with ears laid flat on their necks, they were 

 difficult to see. When touched with a stick 

 they appeared unwilling to move until they saw 

 that they were discovered, when they quickly 

 swam away. 



Later, when the water subsided to its regular 

 channels, where it was about eight feet deep, 

 many of the rabbits were seen swimming 

 about, meeting and pursuing one another as if 

 in sport. One which Bachman had in captivity 

 during warm weather would lie for hours in a 

 trough partly filled with water, with which the 

 cage was furnished. 



THE PIKA, OR CONY (Ochotona prin- 

 ceps and its relatives) 



(For illustration, sec page ^ii) 



The pika, little chief hare, or cony, as it is 

 variously named, is among the most attractive 

 and interesting of our mountain animals. It 

 is about the size and shape of a small guinea- 

 pig, with a short, blunt head, broad, rounded 

 ears, short legs, practically no tail, and a long, 

 fluffy coat of fur. While most nearly related 

 to the hares and rabbits, it has very different 

 habits. 



The pikas form a group comprising many 

 species, much alike in general appearance and 

 distributed among the high mountains, frorn 

 the Urals of Russia through Asia and north- 

 ern North America. In Asia they occur mainly 

 in the mountains through the middle of the 

 continent south to the Himalayas. In Pleisto- 

 cene time they ranged across Europe to Eng- 

 land. In North America they are limited to 

 the western side of the continent, from the 

 Mount McKinley region of Alaska down the 

 Rocky Mountains to New Mexico and along 

 the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to the Mount 

 Whitney region, in California. 



Giving to these North American animals the 

 appellation "cony" is one of many instances in 

 which the name of an Old World animal is 

 brought to America to designate a totally un- 

 related species. Once fixed in current use, the 

 misapplied term is certain to persist. 



Pikas are among the few mammals which 

 live permanently along the high crests of the 

 mountains, mainly above timberline, but they 

 also descend in rock slides among the upper 

 spruces, firs, and pines. The altitude of their 

 haunts varies with the latitude, being between 

 8,000 and 13,500 feet in the United States, but 

 in Alaska much lower. 



In these cool, alpine regions the little ani- 

 mals live wholly within the shelter of rock 

 slides and among the crevices of shattered rock 

 masses. Their distribution is unaccountably 

 broken, and although abundant in many places, 

 they are absent from many others equally suit- 

 able. Their homes are in the midst of the 

 flower-bedecked glacial valleys and basins, the 

 haunts of the big marmots and mountain sheep. 



They are mainly diurnal in habits, and 

 throughout the day may be heard their odd 

 little barking, or bleating note, like the sylla- 

 bles "eh-eh" repeated at intervals in a nasal 

 tone, resembling the sound made by squeez- 

 ing a toy dog. Occasionally they may be heard 

 barking at night, perhaps when disturbed by 

 some prowling enemy. Their notes have a cu- 

 riously ventriloquial quality, which renders it 

 difficult to locate the animals uttering them. 



Owing to their dull gray or brownish colors, 

 the pikas blend with their background so com- 

 pletely that when quietly sitting on a rock they 

 are extremely difficult to see. Even when run- 

 ning about at a little distance they are not 

 easily noted. Their movements are quick and 

 they scamper over the rough surface of a rock 

 slide with surprising agility. 



Little is known of their more intimate life 

 history. Their young, three or four in num- 

 ber, are born usually during the first half of 

 summer and are out foraging when less than 

 half-grown. 



Small, bright eyes and big, rounded cars give 

 pikas an odd and attractive' appearance, unlike 

 that of any other mountain animal. They are 

 extremely watchful and at the first alarm dis- 

 appear in the shelter of their rocky fortresses. 

 Their little bark, however, continues to come 

 up from their hiding places vvitii constant itera- 

 tion. If the observer will sit quietly at some 

 good vantage point his patience will eventually 



