68 



RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



and a beard or tuft of the same hangs from 

 the chin ; the horns, hoofs, and edges of 

 the nostrils are black ; the horns are much 

 like those of the chamois, — smooth, coni- 

 cal, and turned slightlj' backward. 



Under the long hair is a thick coat of 

 silky white wool. An article b^' John Keast 

 Lord, F. Z. S., in an old number of The 

 Student and Intellectual Observer^ published 

 in London, gives a most interesting descrip- 

 tion of the animal, its habits, and the use 

 which the Indians of British Columbia and 

 Vancouver's Island made of this wool, using 

 rude looms, and weaving blankets — often of 

 good designs and colored patterns, some- 

 times mixed with feathers, but oftener with 

 the silkj' hair of certain dogs, which the}* 

 bred with great care for that purpose. 



The highest levels of the Rockj' Moun- 

 tain and Cascade ranges are its almost inac- 

 cessible home, and there among the little 

 stretches kept green b}' the melting of per- 

 petual snow, where its food of grass, moss, 

 and young fronds of Plnus contorta is to be 

 found ; the young, probably one at a time, 

 are dropped in May or Jane, and are seen 

 running with their mothers in July. From 

 Professor Ward's Xatvral Science Biilletin, 

 we copy the following : 



"• The Rocky Mountain Goat is one of the 

 most difficult to procure of our North Amer- 

 ican mammals. Not only are the herds few 

 in number, but the}' live high up in the 

 mountains in the most inaccessible places, 

 taking refuge — so say the hunters — where 

 even a dog cannot follow them, and it some- 

 times happens that after a goat has been 

 killed the bod_y cannot be reached, or else 

 falls from a cliff, and is so mangled as to be 

 useless. Even after specimens have been 

 secured and ' backed' to camp, the trouble 

 is by no means ended, for in order to get 

 them to the nearest station it is necessary 

 to transport them over rough and rocky 

 mountain passes and across swollen and 

 turbulent rivers, at imminent risk of loss. 

 Specimens received have been on the road 

 for over four months. The following are ex- 

 tracts of letters from two of our (Professor 

 Ward's) correspondents in the region where 

 the mountain goat is found : 



" ' The Mountain Goat is very scarce — 

 onl}' found in a few places. They range 

 very high up among the rocks and cliffs. 

 They do not seem to be a shy animal, but 



after killing one it is extremely difficult to 

 get it out. I have on two occasions killed 

 a goat, and could not possibly get to the 

 animal. 



" ' Could you see, or I describe to you, the 

 configuration of the mountain chasms and 

 peaks where the Indians procure the animals 

 in question, you would understand what a 

 task it is to procure a specimen that is not 

 mangled, torn, and utterly ruined (except 

 for food), by a fall of perhaps thousands 

 of feet into some gloomy abyss, when the 

 shot is fired that kills. In this connection 

 I ma}- be allowed to mention that last autumn, 

 the Indians while bringing me a carcass 

 of a goat, a distance of eight miles to reach 

 ray ranch (at the foot of the main range), 

 lost horse and carcass over a precipice, 

 so that to avoid trouble with the Indians, 

 I purchased horse as well as goat.' " 



Reptiles and BatracMans of Rhode Island. 



BY HERMON C. BUMPUS. 



Number XII. 



2. Hyla pickeringii Le Conte. {Hylo- 

 des pickerivgii Holbrook.) The Piping 

 Tree Frog, or March Peeper is one of our 

 m,ost abundant Batrachiayis, myriads being 

 heard at certain seasons of the year, though, 

 due to their small size and unobstrusive ways, 

 they are seldom met with by the more cas- 

 ual or indifferent person. When searched 

 for, however, they are, especially during 

 the months of spring, found in large num- 

 bers, usually about the dead grass or dry 

 leaves bordering some warm shallow pool, 

 or inundated field. 



The amateur, bent on seeing a March 

 Peeper, quietly steals towards the pool where 

 hundreds are calling, but is surprised to find 

 that long before he reaches the orchestra 

 all music has ceased. This timidity on the 

 part of the musicians is very remarkable. 

 A passing bird, or even a shadow will often 

 produce immediate silence. The Peeper is 

 a restless fellow, however, and soon to the 

 attentive eye, a slight disturbance betrays 

 his whereabouts, as he endeavors to crawl 

 out on some floating leaf or half submerged 

 mass of straw, before he inflates himself for 

 work. 



The metliod of calling is interesting. 

 Having drawn in a long breath, the male 



