158 In Touch with Nature. 



it took, and promised to be quite uninteresting, 

 until at last it spied our dog, and then its ire was 

 excited. With an angry, bee-like whiz it darted 

 to and fro, never actually touching the dog, but 

 very loud in its threatenings as to the constantly- 

 postponed next time. It seemed a more cowardly 

 bird than the Eastern ruby-throat, which makes 

 good its threats, and has been known to strike 

 first and threaten afterwards. Fear of man seemed 

 characteristic of a great deal of the animal life 

 met with on the mountain, and I was not pre- 

 pared to cope with this difficulty, having expected 

 to find even the birds comparatively tame. Cer- 

 tainly the creatures that still linger in these now 

 treeless mountains are seldom molested, and yet 

 they all were more difficult to approach than allied 

 forms at home. I realized this when a shining- 

 crested flycatcher, that, as I saw it, looked like a 

 black cedar-bird, came within fifty feet, and would 

 permit of no nearer approach. But, thanks to the 

 clear air, where nothing obstructs the sound, and 

 vision is surprisingly acute, I could both see and 

 hear this curious bird with some satisfaction. Its 

 song is very sweet, yet I did not hear the full 



