A COLORADO BEAR HUNT 87 



Among the pinyons, we several times came across strag- 

 gling flocks of the queer pinyon jays or blue crows, with 

 their unmistakable calls and almost blackbird-like habits. 

 There were hawks of several species, and blue grouse, 

 while the smaller birds included flickers, robins, and the 

 beautiful mountain bluebirds. Juncos and mountain 

 chickadees were plentiful, and the ruby-crowned kinglets 

 were singing with astonishing power for such tiny birds. 

 We came on two nests of the red-tailed hawk; the birds 

 were brooding, and seemed tame and unwary. 



After a week of this we came to the conclusion that 

 the snow was too deep and the weather too cold for us to 

 expect to get any more bear in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood, and accordingly shifted camp to where Clear Creek 

 joins West Divide Creek. 



The first day's hunt from the new camp was success- 

 ful. We were absent about eleven hours and rode some 

 forty miles. The day included four hours' steady snow 

 bucking, for the bear, as soon as they got the chance, went 

 through the thick timber where the snow lay deepest. 

 Some two hours after leaving camp we found the old 

 tracks of a she and a yearling, but it took us a much longer 

 time before we finally struck the fresh trail made late the 

 previous night or early in the morning. It was Jake who 

 first found this fresh track, while Johnny with the pack 

 was a couple of miles away, slowly but surely puzzling 

 out the cold trail and keeping the dogs up to their work. 

 As soon as Johnny came up we put all the hounds on the 

 tracks, and away they went, through and over the snow, 

 yelling their eager delight. Meanwhile we had fixed our 



