Some miscellaneous observations along Windy and Little rivers follow: June 16, 20 Caribou feeding apparently on patches of crowberry (_Empetrum_) and dwarf birch (_Betula glandulosa_) on a ridge; June 29, a Caribou feeding apparently on dwarf birches; June 30, a buck grazing in a sedge bog; August 26, several bucks browsing on willow tops (probably _Salix planifolia_) in a riverside thicket, and some does on dwarf birch and perhaps tall grass or low willow; August 27, numbers feeding largely on willow and dwarf birch; August 28 and 30, low alders, willow, and dwarf birches nibbled off. By early October the leaves of the three last-mentioned shrubs were no longer available, having dropped off. During the summer they had seemed to be preferred above the lichens. Cabot has remarked (1912: 46) on the fondness of _Rangifer arcticus caboti_ for dwarf birch in Labrador.
Charles Schweder reported as follows on the food of Caribou. In summer they live chiefly upon leaves, especially those of dwarf birch, and to some extent upon "grass" (probably largely sedges). Toward the last of June a Caribou was killed with fat an inch thick on its haunches--perhaps the effect of recent feeding on the fresh green vegetation. In August and September the animals also eat mushrooms and get very fat on them; they seem to be especially fond of a certain red kind, which Charles has found in their stomachs. The Eskimos' name for mushrooms signifies "deer food." The Caribou feed upon dead "grass" (perhaps mostly sedges) in the fall, but not in the winter. Charles has seen them digging through 4 feet of snow to get at the reindeer lichens; but for the most part their winter feeding in this region is on the tops of the hills, which remain bare. They also eat tree lichens, especially in the winter time.
Charles has seen Caribou chew the cud while standing as well as while lying down. He once saw a buck thus occupied while standing on a hill for half a day in a breeze that kept the mosquitoes down.
Among the hundreds of Caribou observed at the river crossings and elsewhere, I do not recall seeing a single one pause to drink.
The _Influence of food supply on distribution_ of the Barren Ground Caribou has been discussed in a previous section.