HIS FOOD. 105 



he thus rushes over fragments of rocks and logs, and, owing to 

 the obstacles beneath being concealed by the snow, knows not 

 where he places his feet, he must inevitably break his neck or 

 legs ; but such accidents are of rare occurrence, and during 

 my long sojourn in the northern forests, only one or two 

 instances of the kind ever came to my knowledge, 



The elk is a ruminant animal. He feeds chiefly in the 

 day time ; rarely indeed during the night, unless the moon 

 be shining bright. Hence if he be pursued for two or three 

 consecutive days, more especially in the winter, in which 

 time he has little facility of selecting his feeding-ground, 

 he becomes exhausted, rather from inanition than fatigue, 

 and falls an easy prey to the hunter. 



The food of the elk varies considerably according to the 

 season of the year. In the summer time it consists of the 

 bark, leaves, and smaller branches of young trees ; such as 

 the aspen, the mountain-ash, the Birch, the alder, the sallow, 

 and more especially of the different kinds of willow ; of the 

 sprigs of the cow-berry (Vaccinium Vitis Id&a, Linn.) ; and 

 bilberry (Vaccinium Myrtillus, Linn.) ; of ferns, and of 

 heather when in blossom ; of several species of fungi ; of the 

 rein-deer moss ; as also of different sorts of grasses and 

 plants, more particularly those growing in marshy situations, 

 such as rushes, sedges, the river horse-tail (Equisetum fluvia- 

 tile, Linn.) ; and the marsh mari-gold (Caltha palustris, 

 Linn.) During the rutting season he eats the Ledum 

 palustre, Linn., which has the effect of making him more 

 savage and inflaming his desires. In the winter, when the 

 ground is deeply covered with snow, and when he no longer 

 has access to the herbage beneath, his food chiefly consists of 

 the smaller branches of the trees specified, as well as of the 



