188 IN A COLORADO NOOK. 



brook comes the unceasing cry of the Maryland 

 yellow-throat, " Witches here ! witches here ! " 

 and you can readily believe him, especially as 

 with your best efforts you can see scarcely more 

 than a suggestion of his quaint black mask, as 

 a small form dives into the thick bushes. 



Nor are birds the only attraction in this most 

 fascinating nook ; there are flowers. Through 

 the dead pine leaves on which we sit, here and 

 there thrusts itself up a slender stem, holding 

 upright one of Colorado's matchless blossoms. 

 This is the chosen nook of the rare gilia, which 

 hides itself under the edge of a bush, or close 

 against a low tree, bearing its pink and coral 

 treasures modestly out of sight, until a flower- 

 seeking eye spies it, glowing like a gem in the 

 green world about it. Under the shrubs which 

 hem in our nook on one side grows here and 

 there a rosy cyclamen ; out in the sunshine are 

 bunches of bluebells ; down the bank beside the 

 water are great masses of golden columbine, 

 while a fragrant veil of blooming clematis is 

 flung over the weeds between. It is a rarely 

 lovely and flowery spot. 



We are not far from the world, however ; this 

 caiion-like valley of the Minnelowan is narrow, 

 and through it passes the road. Moreover, there 

 are many openings that might reveal us to the 

 procession of tourists on their way up the caiion. 



