Nov. 1, 1865.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



243 



the echoes far and near, thoroughly roused me, and 

 sent all other thoughts to the rout. As I could see 

 nothing, I deemed it expedient to remain quiet ; 

 cocking my rifle, I lay on the grass, and waited 

 patiently for a repetition of the performance. I had 

 not long to tax my patience : again came the same 

 sound, more shrill than was ever the whistle of a 

 locomotive; then another, and another, joined in 

 the refrain, until the place, instead of being steeped 

 in silence, resembled the gallery of a theatre on 

 Boxing-night. I very soon spied one of the per- 

 formers seated on the top of a large rock ; the 

 position, that of a begging dog ; with his fore-feet 

 he was busy cleaning his whiskers, smoothing his 

 fur, and clearly going in for a somewhat elaborate 

 toilet ; perhaps he was going a-wooing, or to a 

 morning concert, or for a constitutional, or a lounge 

 on the " marmots' mile ; " but whatever his inten- 

 tions, I regret to say, they were frustrated. Solely 

 in the cause of science I had to stop him ; resting 

 my rifle on a flat rock, as I lay on the ground, I 

 drew a steady bead on the hapless musician ; and 

 the sharp crack, as it rang amid the rocks, was his 

 death-knell. Rapidly reloading, I scampered ofi' to 

 secure my prize. I am afraid there was not much 

 pity felt ; delight, at getting a new animal, was 

 uppermost. Smoothing his fur, I plugged the shot- 

 holes, examined him closely, measured him, admired 

 his handsome shape, bright grey coat, and brushy 

 tail ; invesfigated his teeth and claws ; walked back 

 and had a look at him from a distance ; then set to 

 work and skinned him. You can see him also, 

 if you like to visit the British Museum, where this 

 veiy victim is " set up " and placed amidst the 

 marmots; his name, together with that of his 

 destroyer, black-lettered, on the board to which he is 

 affixed. At the sound of the rifle, every single one 

 of his companions took sensation headers into their 

 holes ; and came not out again during my stay on 

 this occasion. 



The length from the nose to the root of the tail 

 was a trifle over 21 inches. The taU, 6 inches. Head, 

 oval and very flat. Nose, short and broad, thickly 

 covered with fine hairs. The cutting (incisor) teeth, 

 large, strong, and of a yellow colour. Whiskers, 

 black and long. Ears, nearly hid by the fur on the 

 neck and vertex. Claws, strong and curved ; are 

 admirable digging implements. The general tint is 

 that of rusty grey, with a blackish conspicuous 

 band extending from the back of the head down the 

 shoulders. Space forbids a more minute detail of 

 specific characters. 



In habits, they are essentially social animals, 

 inasmuch as they live in little colonies ; but unlike 

 some of the prairie marmots, these Rock Whistlers, 

 when married, have a house to themselves, and if 

 blessed with a family — a blessing seldom denied 

 them, — they kick out the youthful pledges of affec- 

 tion, as soon as they can nibble up a living for them- 



selves. The burrow, which is quite two feet in 

 diameter, is dug invariably in a slanting direction, 

 generally at the base of a rock, standing up like a 

 pedestal, on which they love to sit, and whistle. 

 Wide trails, beaten like roads, lead in all directions 

 from their holes, to the feeding and drinking places ; 

 their hours of repast, sensibly chosen, are early 

 in the morning, when the grass and herbage is wet 

 with "dew, and late in the evening ; and as the sun 

 sinks behind the snowy hills, tinting with rosy light 

 each crag and rugged outline, the vesper hymn of 

 the Rock Whistlers sounds from every grassy 

 plateau — the sole good-bye to departing day, heard 

 amid the weird, untrodden wilds of the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



Eor only a few mouths, during summer, is this 

 quaint little miner permitted to revel in the luxury 

 of light. Seven dreary months out of the twelve sleep 

 overpowers him, and keeps watch and ward over his 

 drowsy existence. What a wise and wonderful pro- 

 vision to secure from utter extinction animals com- 

 pelled to live in hyperboreal regions, is hybernation ! 

 Growing wondrously fat during the " golden summer 

 days," they retire, when the nipping cold and 

 deep snow comes, into burrows, lined with soft, 

 warm bedding, become semi-torpid, and literally a 

 Mving stove, for the fuel, stored as fat, is slowly 

 burned up in the lungs, giving out heat, just as coal 

 would in a fire-grate. Thus the Rock Whistler 

 heeds not the icy blasts, that, sweeping ruthlessly 

 through gorge and glen, are powerless to even 

 breathe on him, as he sleeps on and on, safe from 

 every harm, until Sol comes to set him once more 

 free. 



The Red-skin is the Whistler's most implacable 

 enemy ; he never tires of hunting and trapping the 

 little animal, delighting to use his jacket in the 

 fabrication of rugs. The hair being thick, the 

 marmot-robe keeps out both cold and wet, and 

 stands an immense amount of wear and rough usage. 

 Much as the savage likes the coat of his captive, he 

 likes his carcase even better. When skinned, a long 

 peeled stick is thrust through the body, from tail to 

 head ; then placed slantwise, one end being fast in 

 the ground, the treasui-ed morsel is slowly roasted 

 over a gentle fii'e. 



I can bear testimony to the delicacy of roasted 

 marmot, it beats an Ostend rabbit hollow — all 

 honour to the Red-skin's taste ! With a hunter's 

 proverbial hunger, and with good " digestion 

 waiting on appetite," and health on both, a 

 dinner off a roasted Rock Whistler, washed down 

 with a pull at the crystal stream, is a repast many 

 a gourmand, who by constant gorging has worn out 

 health, appetite, and digestion, would give gladly 

 half his life to relish, as I have relished it, by 

 the lodge fire of the savage of the far North- 

 west. 



J. K. LoKD, F.Z.S. 



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