114 



THE OOLOGIST 



Farther on a striped ground squirrel 

 ((Tamias laeralis) ran along a hollow 

 log and was added to our collection. 

 He seemed rather out of place at such 

 a low altitude (3000 feet) and in a 

 yellow pine forest. 



We had planned to camp at Otter 

 Lake but the rain beat down so vio- 

 lently that we carried on: Passing 

 through some heavy timber at the 

 north end of Otter Lake we collected 

 an adult Horned Owl and a half grown 

 young one, still with quantities of 

 down on the lower parts. 



We stopped at 2: p. m. in the nar- 

 row canyon between the Tulameen 

 and Nicola Valleys. The sides are 

 steep and an accumulation of tumbled 

 slide rock along the base of the cliffs 

 was the home of dozens of rock rab- 

 bits (Ochotona cuppes). In the tim- 

 ber at the top of the canyon we could 

 hear Clark's Nutcracker (nucifraga 

 columbiana) ; the first heard for two 

 years. Rufous Hummers (Selasphor- 

 us rufus) were very plentiful here. 



Another few miles and we entered 

 the lower Nicola, beautiful semi-open 

 country dotted with small clear lakes, 

 patches of cottonwoods and poplar, 

 and groves of magnificent yellow pine. 

 We camped in some pasture land, be- 

 side a small creek that lost itself in 

 a dense willow bottom. Beaver have 

 evidently been here for years, as the 

 little creek is dammed in dozens of 

 places and one loses ones way among 

 a network of channels. Some of the 

 dams are grown high with alders and 

 willows and have become permanent 

 features of the bottom. In the even- 

 ing we needed a big fire for warmth. 

 I called up a Screech Owl just at 

 dusk. 



June 12. Started into the hills about 

 noon, part of the way along an ancient 

 trail that led through a yellow pine 

 forest into an open rolling country 

 of small lakes. After four miles up- 



hill on this rough cattle-track we 

 reached an abandoned homestead be- 

 side a gem of a mountain lake, with 

 heavily timbered shores. We left the 

 loaded car intending to return in the 

 evening and camp. A walk of seven 

 miles along a fairly good trail, through 

 a murray pine forest, brought us to 

 Missezula Lake. Birds were not 

 numerous, a few Hammond's Fly- 

 catchers, Red-naped Sapsuckers, West- 

 ern Tanager, Calliope Hummingbird, 

 Townsend's Solitaire and the ever in- 

 teresting Olive-sided Flycatcher, al- 

 ways on the topmost twig of a mur- 

 ray pine, were the only species seen. 



Missezula Lake is a typical, willow- 

 fringed mountain lake, in the thick 

 timbers. It is seven miles long and a 

 half mile wide. There were no water- 

 birds and the shores of the lake and 

 the timber are infested with mosquitos. 



As we passed through an open glade 

 in the murray pine, a large bear, 

 ambled out of the bushes, twenty 

 yards ahead and my partner shot him 

 before he reached the shelter of the 

 timber. It was necessary to light a 

 smudge before we could skin the ani- 

 mal in any degree of comfort. We 

 worked in a haze of smoke and mos- 

 quitos. 



A pair of Rocky Mountain Hairy 

 Woodpeckers (Dryobates villosus 

 monticola had their nest in a poplar 

 close to where the bear fell. I could 

 hear the incessant, strident voices of 

 the young long before I located the nest 

 hole, which was eight feet above the 

 ground. The female was greatly ex- 

 cited, clinging to the tree close to the 

 hole, with head feathers erected and 

 scolding continuously. 



When we reached the car again the 

 mosquitos were so hostile, that we 

 gave up the idea of camping and went 

 back to the camping ground of last 

 night. 



June 13. In the early morning we 



