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The base of the nest rested upon an alder 7 inches in diameter at butt and the rest of the heap was composed of alder sticks from 1/2 an inch to 3 or 4 inches in diameter & from 6 inches to 5 or 6 ft. long. Nearly all the smaller sticks had their bark eaten off & many still retain  the marks of the teeth and all show the teeth marks at each end. The entire mass was below the line of permanently frozen ground here and except for an inch or two along the exposed surface [[strikethrough]] it [[/strikethrough]] when it was thawed slightly. Upon each side of the beaver nest a few yds away & about on the same level was the ice apparently surrounding the [[strikethrough]] ice [[/strikethrough]] mass of frozen earth, on which the nest rested, on three sides thus showing the apparent island formation of this mass of earth. I brought away some of the sticks from the nest. They were all alders and waterlogged and soft enough to be easily picked to pieces with the finger nail [[strikethrough]] After a short look back along the cliffs [[strikethrough]] just beyond here I shot a Ptarmigan which dropped 75 to 100 yds away near a bunch of Alders whence a pair of Gyrfalcons suddenly appeared and one of them made way with my game before I could get within range.