snow tunnels, but here it becomes fantastic because the dust 

 outlines the ridges so that the whole looks like a corbeled roof 

 in a Gothic cathedral. 



THE AMERICAN ALPS 



The forests are for the most part coniferous. In the north there is 

 fir, spruce, and lodgepole pine, western white pine, and Douglas 

 fir and the juniper, which is here usually called "red cedar." In 

 the valleys there are larch, aspen, birch, and alder, and in some 

 places quite large stands of cottonwood. Farther south the com- 

 bination is lodgepole, limber, and whitebark pines: alpine fir, 

 Douglas fir, Englemann spruce, and juniper, with aspen, alder, 

 and cottonwood in the lower valleys. The southern edge of the 

 province constitutes an almost complete break in vegetational 

 type, so that most of the species do not spread south at similar 

 elevations but only at higher elevations. A wonderful feature of 

 this land is that as soon as the snows begin to melt at lower 

 levels flowers begin to bloom, and then as the snow retreats up 

 the mountains one stratum or zone of vegetation after another 

 blooms; and this continues until early fall, when the alpine 

 flowers are in full color. Here in the space of a few miles, due to 

 altitude, there are often four of the major vegetational belts, 

 including all the north temperate forest zones one upon the other. 



The upper slopes are of great interest because of their very 

 abundant fauna. The clear air of these fastnesses may often ring 

 incessantly with plaintive whistlings that seem to penetrate your 

 brain. These noises are made by small furry balls called 

 variously pikas, conies, or whistling hares. Although these 

 animals (Ochotona) are distantly related to the hares and 

 rabbits, they in no way resemble those long-legged creatures. 

 (The term "cony" is most misleading, since the animal referred 

 to in the Bible by that name is the hyrax, a distant relative of the 

 elephants, while the name is also applied to rabbits and to 

 certain other animals in other parts of the world.) Pikas are most 

 engaging little things, shaped like an egg when they squat down, 

 and covered in fluffy gray fur. They live mostly between the 

 rocks of screes rather than in excavated holes, and they line 

 these retreats with great masses of dried grasses and other soft 

 vegetation. But screes are by their very nature full of holes, and 

 the homes of the pikas invariably leak when it rains. As soon 

 as the sun shines again the little animals therefore laboriously 

 haul all their bedding out to dry and then tote it all back again. 

 They may do this day after day. and they are then so preoccupied 

 with their labors they seem to forget their natural caution and 

 often fall prey to martens, fishers, weasels, bobcats, and even 

 day-hunting owls. They live in large colonies and may start up 

 their whistling when they are all together underground. This 

 produces a most eerie effect. 



There is another mammal of these mountains that I find 

 most interesting. This is the Yellow-bellied Marmot, which here 

 replaces its close relatives, the Hoary Marmot of the northern 

 Rockies and the Groundhog of the East and the lowlands. These 

 are large and often grossly obese-looking characters that delight 

 in sitting upright on their fat bottoms on stumps and prominent 

 rocks, with their forepaws on their corporations, blinking and 

 mumbling to themselves. In places where people are unknown 

 or are rare they seem to adopt an aggravated air at your 

 approach, refusing to move and glaring at you down their long 

 noses, while they sometimes even chatter and growl at you. 

 Unlike the Groundhog, they are very adept climbers and prefer 

 hollow trees to earthworks; like squirrels, of which they are a 

 giant form, they can scamper up large trees to some height. They 



are also adept disappearing artists, being able to squeeze them- 

 selves into holes that often don't seem to be as wide as their 

 skulls. Marmots are powerful creatures, and they can give large 

 dogs a pretty rough time if cornered. 1 have not only heard of. 

 but once witnessed, one of these animals attacking a man; nor 

 was the animal rabid. They are rather splendid individualists 

 though unutterably pompous in mien and apparently rather 

 grumpy in temperament. 



THE WATER FLIERS 



Then there is a bird that lives about and even in the mountain 

 streams of this area in considerable numbers. It is really quite 

 common, but few people pay any attention to it and even per- 

 sons born in the country where it lives often will not believe 

 that it behaves as it does. It is a compact, plumpish. plain gray 

 bird with rather long legs and short tail. It lives by the water 

 and never flies far from it. Its food is aquatic insects, and to 

 obtain these it flies down under the water — and I do not mean 

 that it dives in and out again, but that it actually flies into 

 water, using the same wing motions below the surface as in the 

 air. It can also sink to the bottom and walk about there for 

 considerable periods of time. There is hardly a more ridiculous 

 sight to watch than one of these birds tramping along the bottom 

 of a clear pool, pecking away between the pebbles for all the 

 world like a small chicken in a barnyard. It then literally flies 

 out of the water. 



This bird is known as the Water Ouzel (pronounced oozle) 

 and sometimes as the Dipper. It is a great songster, being un- 

 deterred by the worst winter weather when all other birds give 

 up completely. In fact ouzels are immensely hardy and will dive 

 under the ice and bounce around in the snow. They lay four or 

 five pure white eggs in a dome-shaped nest made of mosses and 

 other green stuff. Their favorite nesting spots are underneath 

 waterfalls, through which they fly unconcernedly. The young 

 have an enchanting habit of sitting in a row on a rock and 

 "curtseying" to their parents when they want food. 



Another bird with some strange habits is common on the lakes 

 of this province. This is the Loon, a large black and white bird 

 with so much "forebody" and its legs so far aft that it always 

 seems to be toppling over forward when on land. The majority 

 of them spend the summer up in the Arctic on the sea, where 

 they dive for a living. In winter these birds move down into the 

 continent and take up residence on lakes; however, a certain 

 population seems to stay on the lakes here all year round. When 

 at sea they are silent, but when inland they utter awful noises 

 which have often been compared with insane laughter. They lay 

 rather unpleasant-looking oily brown, elliptical eggs on promi- 

 nent mounds of reeds and so forth, and often on floating masses 

 of debris, and treat them with singular indifference. 



Loons have long, very strong, and extremely sharp beaks, and 

 they can use them with deadly effect. There are few animals 

 that will tackle a loon, though large pike sometimes make the 

 mistake of grabbing one by a leg and usually end with a large 

 hole in the top of the head for their trouble. Loons are like the 



Above: A young bobcat, the more southern, short-furred 

 form of the Lynx. It is very common and found all over 

 the continent but is not often seen. Below: The Yellow- 

 bellied Marmot is one of the Western, mountain-dwelling 

 forms of the large ground squirrels otherwise known as 

 Woodchucks or Groundhogs. It is a great climber. 



226 



