THE NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU 329 



midday, and in the autumn, when the rutting parties may 

 be seen sleeping at midday on the lake edges, it is rare 

 to see the caribou rest like other creatures, and so the man 

 who goes to find it must have long and strong legs. It 

 is more than a fool when it comes running back again and 

 again to stare at you or to take the wind, and more than 

 cunning when it makes its summer bed in some dense 

 thicket full of dry sticks where not one hunter in a thousand 

 can creep in or out without giving the alarm. In fact its 

 whole nature is one of complication and a mixture of qualities 

 alternately wise and idiotic. 



The complex character of the reindeer is noticed in its 

 extreme shyness of certain things that other animals will 

 hardly notice, and its total absence of fear at the sound 

 of the rifle or the avalanche. I have seen many instances 

 of their nervousness. One day in 1906 I was watching five 

 does and a large stag, when a cock willow grouse ran out 

 of a small depression and stood upon a rock about half- 

 way between myself and the deer. The caribou actually 

 heard the scratching noise made by the grouse as it ran 

 up the rock, and all dipped their bodies suddenly and 

 started to run. Then seeing that it was only a grouse 

 they commenced feeding again. A moment later the bird 

 rose and flew over their heads uttering its merry cry, where- 

 upon the company without warning took to their heels with 

 all speed, and galloped away over the sky-line. On another 

 occasion I saw a small herd stampeded by a pair of ravens 

 which were simply "diving" through the air at each other. 

 The deer appeared to be much frightened and ran out of 

 sight. Wild geese rising also -puts them on the move,^ 



• G. L., writing in the Field, April 21, 1906, says that Greenland reindeer will 

 even take alarm at a snow-bunting flying by. 



