MAMMALS. ^ 61 



ordinary woodcluick and A-ary in color from a yell&wifeiltJJf<iv'ifS^j| 

 midsummer to a liglit gray winter coat in fall and spring. The head, 

 feet, and tail are always dark, but a white band around the nose in 

 front of the eyes is usually a conspicuous mark, even at a distance. 



They live mainly in the Hudsonian Zone, but often range over the 

 open slopes of the Arctic-Alpine above the exti'cme limits of timber- 

 line. Apparently they fill the Avhole Hudsonian Zone area of the 

 Glacier Park region and may be seen on every high pass over which 

 trails lead. They are common at Cracker and Iceberg Lakes, over 

 Gunsight, Piegan, Swiftcurrent, and Kootenai Passes, and on the 

 ridge at the head of Kintla Lake. They extend also north through 

 the Canadian Eockies and south to the Bitterroot and Sawtooth 

 Mountains of Idaho, while closely related forms are found in Alaska 

 and the northern Cascades. 



In habits they are burrowers in open country where they depend 

 largel}^ on rocks for the protection of their dens and on rock towers 

 or ledges for lookouts from which to watch for numerous enemies. As 

 some of them seem always to be on guard, a long, evenly sustained 

 and piercing whistle usually greets the tourist before the whistler 

 is visible. The alarm note is generallj' taken up and repeated along 

 the mountainside, while every little and big whistler that is out 

 feeding lopes for the meadows or snow banks or the nearest rock 

 pile, where it can also gain a wide view. Having short legs and 

 heavy bodies, their only protection from nmnerous enemies is con- 

 stant vigilance and close proximity to sheltering crevices and caverns 

 among the rocks, where, to escape bears, coyotes, or golden eagles, 

 they can quickly take refuge. They are occasionally seen crossing 

 the great snow fields or the glaciers from one point of rocks to 

 another, and on the pass at the head of Kintla Lake one old fellow 

 had a well-worn trail from his fortress on the rock cliff across a 

 Avide bare slope to the only patch of gi-een Avillow-carpeted turf 

 within reach. Occasionally a big burrow is found on the sidehill in 

 the open, but generally they are located under the edge of some 

 great boAvlder or go into the ground underneath a heap of broken 

 rocks at the base of some clitf, or back in a crevice between rock walls 

 that will admit no larger animal. In these rocky fortresses the 

 animals are comparatively safe, but in the open the bears occasion- 

 allv dig out their dens and feast upon the occupants. Marmots are 

 good climbers and are often seen high on the face of clilfs where 

 they could go only by the help of their strong curved toenails. 

 After a hearty meal they spend much time sunning themselves on 

 the cliifs and rock pinnacles where they have a wide \iew over the 

 country and can absorb the rare Avarmth of the sun's rays in these 

 high altitudes. 



