io8 THE DEER FAMILY 



unusual, but he insisted that he had seen it move. 

 1 dismounted and walked quite near, where 1 could see 

 through the brush a gray patch as large as my hand, 

 apparently on or very near the ground. I was about 

 to fire at it, when it flashed across my mind that 

 there were many men, tie-cutters, at work about the 

 mountain, and that this might be some sleeping or 

 drunken man. I approached still nearer and called 

 out in a loud voice, warning whoever was there, that 

 I was about to fire. I did this two or three times, still 

 advancing, until I was scarcely twelve feet from the 

 object, when, giving a last loud warning, 1 fired and 

 bagged a splendid black-tail (mule-deer)." 



Van Dyke tells us, more recently, of a mule-deer 

 that he saw enter a thicket, which hid and refused to 

 leave, although he tramped all over the thicket after 

 throwing many stones into it from the high ground. 

 I have almost stepped on them when they were evi- 

 dently hiding. Upon one occasion we were encamped 

 in a narrow canyon with high walls. A trout-stream 

 flowed at the base of one \vall and our camp was 

 pitched beside the stream on a little grassy meadow 

 which extended to the other wall. Many huge rocks 

 were lying about, which had fallen into the valley. 

 One afternoon, with shot-gun and rod, I strolled up the 

 canyon, intending to get a few blue-grouse and trout for 

 supper. I had gone but a very short distance when, 

 as I turned the corner of a rock, two large mule-deer 

 jumped from the grass at my feet and went bounding 

 away toward the camp. It occurred to me that if I let 

 them have the contents of the gun they might run 

 on through the camp, and it was evident, from the 



