THE ARCTIC ZONE OF HIGH MOUNTAINS 95 



ptarmigan and the rosy finch, too, enjoy this realm 

 throughout the year. But the summer visitors 

 are also happy: deer, elk, coyotes, southland birds, 

 and eagles all make merry on its peaks and moor- 

 lands. So, too, do the flocks of birds of many 

 species from lowlands and far north who briefly 

 visit it during the early autumn for picnic feasts 

 while journeying toward winter homes somewhere 

 under southern skies. 



One of the strangest wild-life gatherings that I 

 have ever seen was in the Arctic-alpine zone of a 

 mountain plateau twelve thousand feet above the 

 sea. If you wish to have an experience entirely 

 new, to see wild birds and wild animals in a happy 

 commingling in the mountains, to witness a bois- 

 terous wild-life feast and fair, then visit the realm 

 just above the timberline in the Rocky Mountains 

 when the birds are flying south. 



No food station along the way of migrating birds 

 can show a more motley or spectacular gathering 

 than an autumnal one on these heights. It is 

 often made up of flocks of migrating birds 

 representing numerous species. They come from 

 Alaska, from the " barren lands/' the mountains 

 of British Columbia, and the birch-margined 

 streams of the North Woods. They are bound 

 for winter homes and picnic lands in Texas, Mex- 

 ico, Cuba, Orinoco, and Argentina. 



In addition to migrating birds, there are resi- 

 dent birds and visitors from down the mountain 



