<Ctt60 mi) (Tftof^er 



position peeped over and beyond her. But they did 

 not detect me and soon went leisurely on. 



Two miles farther I crept as close as I could and 

 paused to watch. The mother was digging, the cub 

 watching eagerly. As her digging continued for some 

 time, he moved away, sniffed two or three times, 

 and then began digging rapidly on his own account. 

 While both were digging, there was a whir of wings 

 and a sweep of shadows, and a flock of white ptar- 

 migan alighted among broken ledges near by. 

 While I was watching them, a flock of mountain 

 sheep came along the out-thrusting ridge and 

 paused to play for a few moments on the sky-line. 

 In pairs they faced, then reared up and sparred 

 with their horns; they cut lively circles around 

 one another. A rugged, snowy peak loomed grim be- 

 hind the scene, and the dense forest spread away 

 for miles below. The bears, the ptarmigan, and 

 the sheep, the white peak, the purple forest, and 

 the blue sky gave me a striking experience and left 

 a splendid picture. As I turned to go, the cub 

 was giving all his attention to the play of the 

 sheep. 



The almost continual play of the cubs is a never- 

 ending source of interest. They race, they wrestle, 



35 



