102 



RECREA TION. 



" Pikas are noisy little creatures and are 

 not likely to let any one pass near by with- 

 out making their presence known. Their 

 cry has been described as a 'bleat'; re- 

 sembling that of a lamb, but the simile is 

 strained. Their ordinary note is eh-eh, 

 spasmodically ejaculated and several times 

 repeated. Sometimes it is shriller and 

 more like ee-ee, uttered many times in 

 rapid succession. 



" They are active, nimble little bodies, 

 springing lightly from rock to rock, and 

 running swiftly to and from their feeding 

 grounds, often several hundred feet away. 



" Their chief food-plant is a pretty little 

 Arctic-alpine species (Genum rossii) which 

 forms mats of green among the rocks and 

 bears conspicuous yellow flowers. This is 

 their ' hay,' and they lay up large quan- 

 tities of it for winter use, depositing it in 

 little heaps in the spaces between the rocks. 

 These storehouses average about the size 

 of a bushel measure and contain, in addi- 

 tion to the leaves and flowers of Genum 

 rossii, a few heads of purple Aster and 

 golden Senecio. 



" The Pikas are very industrious. In 

 early autumn they are constantly engaged 

 in carrying hay to their storehouses, except 

 when interrupted by intruders, at whom 

 they stare and scold before plunging out of 

 sight among the rocks. Soon after silence 

 is restored they reappear, and their cry may 



be heard from a hundred points. They 

 crawl out upon the rocks and sit motion- 

 less for a while, and if undisturbed soon 

 return to their task of laying up food for 

 winter. I have watched them by the hour 

 while thus engaged, running rapidly to the 

 side of the slide, gathering a mouthful of 

 leaves, and returning as swiftly to deposit 

 it in the usual place. For such short- 

 legged animals their speed is surprising, as 

 well as the long leaps they make from rock 

 to rock, never losing their footing. Their 

 movements are not attended by any noise, 

 which circumstance is due in part to the 

 lightness of their bodies and in part to the 

 dense pad of fur which covers the soles of 

 their feet. 



" One afternoon, about the ist of Sep- 

 tember, Mr. Vernon Bailey and I carried 

 our blankets up to a Lagomys above tim- 

 ber line, on the Salmon river mountains, 

 and spent the night there. As darkness fell 

 upon the mountains a storm set in. The 

 wind blew a furious gale and rain began 

 falling. Soon the rain changed to hail and 

 sleet, and finally to snow. Much to our 

 surprise we heard the unmistakable cry of 

 the Pikas, at frequent intervals throughout 

 the night. Whether they are usually noc- 

 turnal, as well as diurnal, or whether the 

 storm set them at work to move their 

 storehouses to safer places, we have no 

 means of knowing." 



AMATEUR I'HOTO BY KOIST. WALSTROM. 



ICE BOAT "IVERNE," ON LAKE PEPIN. 



