Grouse of the Northern Cattle Plains 83 



for fresh meat, the cattle taking up so much of our 

 time as to prevent our going after deer, I made up 

 my mind to devote a morning to hunting up the 

 creeks and coulies for grouse, with the shotgun. 



Accordingly the next morning I started, just about 

 the time the last of the flocks were flying away from 

 their feeding-ground on the bottom. I trudged 

 along on foot, not wanting to be bothered by a 

 horse. The air was fresh and cool, though the cloud- 

 less sky boded a hot noon. As I walked by the cat- 

 tle they stopped grazing and looked curiously at me, 

 for they were unused to seeing any man not on 

 horseback. But they did not offer to molest me; 

 Texan or even Northern steers bred on the more 

 remote ranges will often follow and threaten a foot- 

 man for miles. While passing among the cattle it 

 was amusing to see the actions of the little cow bunt- 

 ings. They were very familiar little birds, lighting 

 on the backs of the beasts, and keeping fluttering 

 round their heads as they walked through the grass, 

 hopping up into the air all the time. At first I could 

 not make out what they were doing; but on watch- 

 ing them closely saw that they were catching the 

 grasshoppers and moths which flew into the air to 

 avoid the cattle's hoofs. They are as tame with 

 horsemen ; while riding through a patch of tall grass 

 a flock of buntings will often keep circling within 

 a couple of yards of the horse's head, seizing the 

 insects as they fly up before him. 



The valley through which the creek ran was quite 

 wide, bordered by low buttes. After a heavy rain- 



