194 THE WILDERNESS HUNTER. 



where they cut off the cones, dropping them 

 to the ground with a noise which often for a 

 moment puzzles the still-hunter. 



Two of the most striking and characteristic 

 birds to be seen by him who hunts and camps 

 among the pine-clad and spruce-clad slopes 

 of the northern Rockies are a small crow and 

 a rather large woodpecker. The former is 

 called Clarke's crow, and the latter Lewis' 

 woodpecker. Their names commemorate 

 their discoverers, the explorers Lewis and 

 Clarke, the first white men who crossed the 

 United States to the Pacific, the pioneers of 

 that great army of adventurers who since then 

 have roamed and hunted over the Great Plains 

 and among the Rocky Mountains. 



These birds are nearly of a size, being 

 about as large as a flicker. The Clarke's 

 crow, an ash-colored bird with black wings 

 and white tail and forehead, is as common as 

 it is characteristic, and is sure to attract 

 attention. It is as knowing as the rest of its 

 race, and very noisy and active. It flies some- 

 times in a straight line, with regular wing- 

 beats, sometimes in a succession of loops like 

 a woodpecker, and often lights on rough bark 

 or a dead stump in an attitude like the latter ; 

 and it is very fond of scrambling and cling- 

 ing, often head downwards, among the outer- 

 most cones on the top of a pine, chattering 

 loudly all the while. One of the noticeable 

 features of its flight is the hollow, beating 

 sound of the wings. It is restless and fond 

 of company, going by preference in small 

 parties. These little parties often indulge in 

 regular plays, assembling in some tall tree-top 



