XVm CONTENTS 



and owls — The burrowing owl — Ground-birds — The road- 

 runner's swiftness — The yicious beak — The desert quail 

 — "Wings of the quail— Trarelling for water — Habits of 

 the quail — His strong legs — Bush-birds — Woodpeckers 

 and cactus — Finches and mocking-birds — Humming-birds 

 — Doves and grosbeaks — The lark and flickers — Jays and 

 magpies — Water fowl — Beetles and worms — Fighting de- 

 struction by breed — Blue and green beetles — Butterflies — 

 Design and character — Beauty of birds — Beauty also of 

 reptiles — Nature's work all purposeful — Precious jewel 

 of the toad 174 



Chapter XI. Mesas and Foot-HUls. — Flat steps of 

 the desert — Across Southern Arizona — Rising from the 

 desert — The great mesas — " Grease -wood plains" — Up- 

 land vegetation — Grass plains — Spring and summer on the 

 plains — Home of the antelope — Beds of soda and gypsum 

 — Biding into the unexpected — The Grand Cany op 

 country — Hills covered with juniper— The Painted Desert 

 —Riding on the mesas — The reversion to savagery — The 

 thin air again — The light and its deceptions —Distorted 

 proportions— Changed colors— The little hills— Painting 

 the desert — Worn -down mountains — Mountain wash — 

 Flattening down the plain— Mountain making— The foot- 

 hills — Forms of the foot-hills— Mountain plants— Bare 

 mountains — The southern exposures — Gray lichens — Still 

 in the desert — Arida Zona — Cloud-bursts in the mesas — 

 Wash of rains— Gorge cutting— In the canyons — ^Walls 

 of rock— Color in canyon shadows— Blue sky — Desert 

 landscape — Knowledge of Nature — Nature-lovers — 

 Human limitations 194 



Chapter XII. Mountain -Barriers. — The western 

 mountains — Saddles and passes— View from mountain 

 top— Looking toward the peaks— Lost streams— Ava- 



