HO! FOR GRAY'S PEAK! 253 



nectar they sipped I know not, for there were no flowers 

 or verdure on the heights. They were the Painted 

 Lady or Thistle Butterfly (Pyrameis cardui) and the 

 Western White (Pieris occidentalis). He captured an 

 individual of the latter species with his net, and to-day 

 it graces his collection, a memento of a hard but glori- 

 ous climb. The descent of the mountain was laborious 

 and protracted, including some floundering in the snow, 

 but was accomplished without accident. A warm sup- 

 per in the miner's shack which we had leased prepared 

 us for the restful slumbers of the night. 



Although the weather was so cold that a thin coat- 

 ing of ice was formed on still water out of doors, the 

 next morning the white-crowned sparrows were singing 

 their sonatas long before dawn, and when at peep of day 

 I stepped outside, they were flitting about the cabins 

 as if in search of their breakfast. The evening before, 

 I left the stable-door open while I went to bring the 

 burros up from their grazing plat. When I returned 

 with the animals, a white-crown flew out of the build- 

 ing just as I stepped into the entrance, almost fluttering 

 against my feet, and chirping sharply at what he seemed 

 to think a narrow escape. He had doubtless gone into 

 the stable on a foraging expedition. 



The day was spent in exploring the valley and steep 

 mountain sides. A robin's nest was found a little below 

 the timber-line on the slope of Mount Kelso. In the 



