Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/422

398 antlers lay in some of the most retired valleys, some so large that a pair being set up on its points would form an arch high enough to walk under without stooping; but we saw no elk.

"The 'sign' of Bears — black, brown, and cinnamon — was everywhere; but they were ' housed for winter.' Grislies were said to be habitants of the country, but I do not believe they were. My experience of Grisly Bears — and I have often made their personal acquaintance — is, anybody to the contrary notwithstanding, that they do not hibernate. I think the belief that they do so has arisen from the cinnamon, or more properly speaking the cimmarron (Spanish American for 'wild' or 'savage') bears being continually confounded with them by those who write chiefly from hearsay. They are, however, distinct and separate species, one always hibernating, the other, I think, never doing so. Certainly the Grisly does not hibernate iu California, where I have frequently tracked them in the snow in mid- winter through ; and as we did not do so in Wet-mountain Valley, I doubt their existence there.

"Wolves were very numerous, and of three species — first and foremost, the Grey Mountain Wolf, the largest and fiercest of the genus, hunting in packs by day as well as by night; next, the Timber Wolf, of a dark bluish grey, a solitary, skulking night prowler ; lastly, the Coyote, a small cunning fellow, always hunting or sneaking about by day or night, singly and in small bauds.

"Of Foxes, there were a few Silver-greys, whose fur is the most valuable of the fox family ; innumerable common American Grey Foxes ; a few specimens of the Red Fox ; and many ' Swifts' — the last mentioned a species of fox I have rarely met with, and nowhere as plentifully as in Wet-mountain Valley. He gets his name from his great speed, which is astonishing. I believe he is not only the fastest goer of his size, but absolutely the fastest of all animals. He is of a blackish grey colour on the back, with a handsome silver-grey, white-tipped tail. His ears, neck, upper fore-legs, and hocks are reddish orange, and the edges of his thighs, belly, breast, and throat pure white. He is as pretty as he is fleet, aud can catch a rabbit as easily as a collie can a sheep.

"The cat genus, from Lynx to Pumas, was well represented ; Raccoons, Badgers, Mink, Otter, and Beaver were plentiful, and 'varmints' of all kinds abounded.

"Of game birds only wild Turkeys were in sufficient numbers to be objects of pursuit. There were a few Mountain Partridges, and some Wood Grouse ; but wild cats and foxes kept them very scarce, as they also did rabbits and mountain hares. The Turkeys differed slightly from those we had been in the habit of shooting farther north and east. They were much lighter and more parti-coloured in their plumage, showed much more white and brown markings, but had the same calls and habits.