420 Notes on some Small Rodents found in North America. 



in all the haze of mist and distance, I could see the valley I 

 had left. 



Close to my conch was a talus of broken granite, that old 

 time and the frost king between them had crumbled away from 

 a mass of rocks — so immense, that no hand, save that of He 

 who made them, could have lifted them on one another. As 

 in awe and wonder I contemplated these stupendous proofs of 

 G-od's 'power, a cry like a plaintive whistle suddenly attracted 

 my attention. It evidently came from amongst the stones. I 

 listened and kept quiet. Again and again came the whistle ; 

 but nowhere could I see the whistler. A slight movement at 

 length betrayed him, and I could clearly make out a little 

 animal sitting bolt upright, like a begging dog, his throne a 

 flat stone in the middle of the heap. 



I had a load of small shot in one barrel of my gun, intended 

 for ptarmagan, and forgetting, in my anxiety to obtain the 

 unknown stranger, that I should alarm the big-horn I was so 

 bent on procuring, raising my gun slowly and cautiously to my 

 shoulder, I fired as I lay on the ground. The sharp ringing 

 crack as I touched the trigger — the first, perhaps, that had 

 ever awoke the echoes of the mountain — was the death-knell of 

 the poor little whistler. 



I picked him up, and imagine my intense delight when for 

 the first time in my life I held Lagomys minimus in my hand. 

 Having discovered what he was by a most careful examination, 

 the next thing was to watch for others — to find out what they 

 did, and how they passed their time in their stony citadel. I 

 had not long to wait; others soon came peeping slily out 

 of their hiding-places, and, inferring safety from silence, sat 

 upon the stones and cheerily whistled to each other. The least 

 noise, and the whistle was sounded sharper and more shrill — 

 the danger signal — when one and all took headers into their 

 holes among the stones. I soon observed they were busy at 

 work, carrying in bits of dry grass, fir fronds, roots and moss, 

 and constructing a nest in the clefts between the stones, clearly 

 for winter sleeping quarters. The nests were of large size, 

 some of them consisting of as much material as would fi]l a 

 a good sized basket. I feel sure that one nest was the com- 

 bined work of several of these little labourers, and destined for 

 their joint habitation. 



There were no provisions stored away, neither do I think 

 they garner any for winter use, but simply hybcrnate in the 

 warm nest, which of course is thickly covered with snow during 

 the intense cold of these northern latitudes, thus more effectu- 

 ally preventing the radiation and waste of animal heat. Their 

 food consists entirely of grass, which they nibble much after 

 the fashion of our common rabbit. They never burrow or dig 



