THE HONEY-BEE. 233 
curlew. Add to these numbers of hawks and 
ravens, and we have most of the fowls of the 
Prairies. Flocks of the latter follow in the 
wake of caravans with even greater constancy 
than wolves. 
The bee, among Western pioneers, is the 
proverbial precursor of the Anglo-American 
population: in fact, the aborigines of the 
frontier have generally corroborated the no- 
tion; for they used to say, they knew the 
whites were not far behind, when bees ap- 
peared among them. This partial coincl- 
dence, I suppose, is the result of their emi- 
gration westward being at nearly an even 
pace with that of the settlers. As yet no 
honey-bees seem to have been discovered as 
far westward as any part of the Rocky |] Moun- 
tains. They are scattered, however, to the 
distance of two or three hundred miles west 
of the Missouri and Arkansas frontier, whére 
there is timber affording them suitable habita- 
tions. On the Santa Fé route but few have 
been found beyond the Council Grove. 
