HO! FOR GRAY'S PEAK! 235 



concord in jay household circles. That surely is a virtue 

 to be commended, and cannot be claimed for every 

 family, either avian or human. 



At 4.30 that morning I crept out of bed and climbed 

 far up one of the mountain sides this was before the 

 jays came to the cabin. The wind blew so icy from the 

 snow-clad heights that I was only too glad to wear 

 woollen gloves and pin a bandanna handkerchief around 

 my neck, besides buttoning up my coat collar. Even 

 then I shivered. But would you believe it ? The mos- 

 quitoes were as lively and active as if a balmy breeze 

 were blowing from Arcady, puncturing me wherever 

 they could find a vulnerable spot, and even thrusting 

 their sabres through my thick woollen gloves into the 

 flesh. They must be extremely hardy insects, for I am 

 sure such arctic weather would send the mosquitoes of 

 our lower altitudes into their winter hiding-places. 

 People who think there are no mosquitoes in the Rockies 

 are reckoning without their hosts. In many places they 

 assaulted us by the myriad until life among them became 

 intolerable, and some were found even in the neighbor- 

 hood of perpetual snow. 



Raw as the morning was, the hermit thrushes, moun- 

 tain chickadees, Audubon^s warblers, gray -headed j un- 

 cos, and ruby-crowned kinglets were giving a lively 

 rehearsal. How shy they were ! They preferred being 

 heard, not seen. Unexpectedly I found a hermit thrush's 



