336 SNOW STORMS. 



air for the breathing of the bird. In the shelter of the 

 bushes they are obliged, like the white hares and other 

 inhabitants of the mountains, to open breathing holes 

 for themselves ; and while they are pent up in their ha- 

 bitations of snow, the tops of the heather, or leaves of 

 the bush, find them in food. When the surface be- 

 comes hard [which it does in no great length of time 

 after the fall of snow is over, in consequence of the 

 softening of the surface by the action of the sun, and 

 the congealing of it again at night, till it is converted 

 into a crust of smooth ice, and reflects off the greater 

 part of the solar heat obliquely, as the rays then fall 

 upon the surface] those breathing holes often betray 

 their inmates to the ravages of predatory birds and 

 quadrupeds. The mountain-eagles and hawks then 

 fly over the snowy surface, and beat it in the same 

 manner for these holes, as they do for the birds them- 

 selves when there is no snow upon the ground ; and 

 the four-footed ravagers, that then find an easy passage 

 along the hard surface, join in the spoil. Man some- 

 times also takes a part in it, but much less frequently, 

 because there are concealed holes and precipices under 

 the snow, which are full of danger. 



But the winds by which the falls of snow in the 

 Alpine countries are accompanied, though they render 

 these formidable to the animals, whether quadruped or 

 bird, while they last, and fatal to man if he be over- 

 taken by them late in the day and far from his home, 

 have yet their uses, and tend in some measure to the 

 preservation of life. Some portions toward the wind- 

 ward are left bare, or at any rate with the tops of the 

 heath and other plants above the surface, and the 



