THE MOUNTAIN GOAT AT HOME 55 



eastern wall of Bald Mountain. Two miles from home 

 we topped a sharp rise, and there directly ahead, and 

 only a quarter of a mile away on an eastern slope lay a 

 band of eleven goats, basking in the welcome sunshine. 

 The flock was composed of nannies, yearling billies and 

 kids, with not even one old billy among those present. 

 Two old chaperons lay with their heads well up, on the 

 lookout, but all the others lay full length upon the grass, 

 with their backs uphill. Three of the small kids lay 

 close against their mothers. 



They were on the northerly point of a fine mountain 

 meadow, with safety rocks on three sides. Just beyond 

 them lay a ragged hogback of rock, both sides of which 

 were so precipitous that no man save an experienced 

 mountaineer would venture far upon it. It was to this 

 rugged fortress that the goats promptly retreated for 

 safety when we left off watching them, and rose from 

 our concealment. Their sunning-ground looked like a 

 sheep-yard, and we saw that goats had many times lain 

 upon that spot. 



Near by, behind a living windbreak, was a goat- 

 bed, that looked as if goats had lain in it five hundred 

 times. By some curious circumstance, a dozen stunted 

 spruces had woven themselves together, as if for mutual 

 support, until they formed a tight evergreen wall ten feet 

 long and eight feet high. It ranged north and south, 

 forming an excellent hedge-like shield from easterly 

 winds, while the steep mountain partially cut off the 

 winds from the west. On the upper side of that natural 

 windbreak, the turf had been worn into dust, and the 



