SHYNESS. 63 



In general the biirrell is considered a shy 

 and wary animal, difficult in the extreme to 

 approach, and taking alarm at the least 

 appearance of man, even when at an immense 

 distance. Where frequently hunted, or on 

 hills near the villages, it certainly deserves 

 this character ; but in retired and solitary 

 spots where the appearance of a human form 

 is of rare occurrence, and the report of a gun 

 still more rare — and there are many such 

 spots in the immense chain of snowy moun- 

 tains — it is not nearly so wild or timid, 

 indeed almost altogether the reverse, and 

 often seems to look upon the intruder as an 

 object more to be wondered at, than avoided, 

 until a few successive returns of such an 

 unusual visitant, render it as timid and wary 

 as its brethren on the more frequented 

 hills. 



They keep together in compact flocks of 

 from four or five, to forty or fifty, and some- 

 times upwards of a hundred. Occasionally 

 a solitary individual is met with, but they 

 seem to have great aversion to being left 



