IXliti Bifi on t^e (RocKieff 



enliven the air with song. Eagles soar the blue, 

 and ptarmigan, pipits, and sparrows live on the 

 alpine moorlands. Thrushes fill the forest aisles 

 with melody, and by the brooks the ever-joyful 

 water-ouzel mingles its music with the song of 

 ever-hurrying, ever-flowing waters. Among the 

 many common birds are owls, meadowlarks, 

 robins, wrens, magpies, bluebirds, chickadees, 

 nuthatches, and several members of the useful 

 woodpecker family, together with the white- 

 throated sparrow and the willow thrush. 



Speckled and rainbow trout dart in the 

 streams. Mountain sheep climb and pose on the 

 crags; bear, deer, and mountain lions are still 

 occasionally seen prowling the woods or hurrying 

 across the meadows. The wise coyote is also seen 

 darting under cover, and is frequently heard 

 during the night. Here among the evergreens is 

 found that small and audacious bit of intensely 

 interesting and animated life, the Douglas squir- 

 rel, and also one of the dearest of all small ani- 

 mals, the merry chipmunk. Along the brooks are 

 a few small beaver colonies, a straggling remnant 



of a once numerous population. It is to be hoped 



242 



