THE MOUNTAINS 



Most visitors to the Canadian Rockies, who give any 

 thought to the subject, leave them, I think, with the impres- 

 sion that they are unusually deficient in bird-life. This be- 

 lief is due, doubtless, not so much to the restrictions of the 

 avifauna as to the overwhelming grandeur of the region it- 

 self. The hurrying tourist, and few there are, unfortunate- 

 ly, who do not hurry, is kept in a state of intense enthusiasm 

 by what is probably the most impressive scenery he has ever 

 beheld, and from the time he enters the mountains until he 

 leaves them, his outlook never lacks a view which is not 

 worthy all the homage his nature is fitted to render to it. 

 Small wonder, then, that he has no time to look for birds ; 

 and if he does not look for them he will not find them. 



So far as bird-life is concerned, conditions here are es- 

 sentially primitive. There is a settlement at Banff, but, be- 

 yond this, the Canadian Pacific railway buildings and hotels 

 are almost the only evidence of man's occupation one sees 

 in the mountains. These hotels, erected for the benefit of 

 sight-seeing tourists, permit one to step from the train into 

 the heart of the forest primeval, and find excellent accom- 

 modations. There are, therefore, uo orchards or stubble- 

 fields, or other artificial conditions favorable to the increase 

 of those birds which readily adapt themselves to the waj^s of 

 man and thrive on his bounty. Nevertheless, many birds 

 inhabit these great coniferous woods, but the height of the 

 trees and density of the undergrowth afford them opportun- 

 ities for concealment. They are consequently more often 

 heard than seen, and if one's ear be not attuned to their voi- 

 ces, they will doubtless pass unnoticed and one will have 

 missed hearing some of our best songsters, under conditions 

 which would make the experience memorable. 



