114 DAYS OUT OF DOOKS. 



extraordinarily tame, and I noticed that when they sang 

 they dropped their wings and caused them to quiver rap- 

 idly ; then off each would dart in quest of flies with all 

 the grace and restlessness of redstarts. 



The aspens were not in full leaf, and the young foliage 

 was of a pale gray green that made a most fitting back- 

 ground for the deep orange breast and black and yellow 

 head of this rare warbler. 



Sheltered from the wind, the water here was absolutely 

 still and treacherously clear. Not a twig of any over- 

 hanging tree but was faithfully mirrored, and the dividing 

 line between the upper and lower world could not be 

 traced. It was difficult to realize that the boat rested 

 upon water, and, quite unguarded, I stepped upon a shelf 

 of rock that seemed not more than an inch below the 

 surface ; but it proved to be nearly twelve, and I narrowly 

 escaped a ducking in water thirty feet in depth. My ar- 

 dor was not damped if my feet were, and, while hesitating 

 between birds and botany, a brown skink, with bright red 

 head, darted by me like a flash. Although I had scarcely 

 standing room, I made a break for him, and nearly broke 

 my arms. But my rashness was the needed lesson, and 

 to salve my wounded feelings I gathered purple trilliums, 

 glaucous corydalis, and other unfamiliar and, to me, un- 

 known bloom. Then, rounding a point of rocks in the 

 boat, I found a better chance for freedom of limbs, and 

 set systematically to hunt for skinks. But to hunt suc- 

 cessfully, one must wait for these sly lizards to show them- 

 selves, and I kept my eyes upon the broad surface of one 

 great wall of rock, while sitting in the boat, from which 

 only a view could be had. Very soon an exclamation 

 from my companion announced that he had seen one, and 

 I, too, soon caught a glimpse of the skulking creature. 

 Very cautiously the boat was brought closely up to the 



