78 CAMP-FIRES OF A NATURALIST. 



was put on the old burro, and for the next six miles 

 Mrs. Dyche exercised her arms trying to make him 

 keep in the trail and up with the other donkeys. He 

 had a mind of his own and would wander off to lunch 

 on tempting bits of grass away from the trail. Her 

 feeble efforts at punishment had about as much effect 

 on him as tickling with a straw. Finally he was 

 put in the middle of the train and better time was 

 made. The ranch was reached by noon, and by night 

 the party had become thoroughly domiciled, ready 

 for the summer's campaign. 



The object of this year's trip was to put into 

 practical operation an idea of Dyche 's regarding field 

 mounting of birds. The camp was placed by the side 

 of a cool spring which gushed from the edge of a 

 patch of quaking asps, while on the west was a heavy 

 body of spruce. Stretching to the south for two or 

 three hundred yards was a fine grassy meadow, 

 merging into a jungle of willow and tag-alder 

 bushes covering a piece of swampy ground. A 

 small wall-tent was devoted to taxidermic operations, 

 and soon became known as the museum. This tent 

 faced south, overlooking the meadow, and was pre- 

 pared for any emergency. Shelves arranged in one 

 corner held the mounting outfit, which included a 

 bunch of wire, a can of alum and arsenic, a bottle of 

 benzine, a can of plaster-of-Paris, a case of the size 

 and shape of a cigar-box containing a complete 

 assortment of tools for skinning and mounting birds, 

 a roll of manilla paper, and a few other articles. 

 Under these shelves were kept rolls of cotton -batting 

 and excelsior. A pole table served as an operating- 



