CHAPTER VIII. 



AT THE FORKS OF THE ROSEBUD. 



GOOD LUCK WITH THE GROUSE INTERVIEWED BY A CROW SCOUT FIRST 

 SIGHT OF THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS THREE DEER KILLED WITH 

 FOUR SHOTS, "DEUCED CLEVAH!" FANNING THE COYOTES ALL 

 LOADED FOR BEAR KILLED, BUT LOST AFTER ALL WET GRO- 

 CERIES FOR BREAKFAST. 



WE camped at the forks of the Rosebud on the night of 

 the 2d of September near the sight of General Crook's fight 

 with the Sioux, on the i;th of June, 1876. The rifle pits are 

 still well preserved ; the position Crook occupied can easily 

 be traced by these, and various other relics that remain on 

 the field. 



A covey of sharp-tailed grouse came within a few yards of 

 our camp late in the evening, and with a few lucky shots we 

 took the heads <pff of five of them. They were large and fat, 

 their food being abundant on the plains this season. Their 

 craws were full of grasshoppers. The feathered life of this 

 region includes several varieties of hawks common to the 

 Western plains, the night-hawk, magpie, Canada jay (com- 

 monly called meat bird, or butcher bird), red-headed wood- 

 pecker, golden-winged woodpecker, Carolina dove, brown 

 thrush, catbird, red-breasted robin, blackbird, two or three 

 varieties of owls; the rose-breasted grosbeak, and two or 

 more varieties of sparrows. The woodpecker must here return 

 to first principles, to the habits of his forefathers, and become 

 again an insectivorous bird, for there is not a particle of grain 

 raised within a hundred miles of here. In the settled dis" 

 tricts he has almost entirely abandoned his natural food, and 



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