i'liulo by Cc'jvgc Shiran, 3n-l 

 TIIE SAJIK BAND OF SHEEP AS SHOWN IN THE PRECEIUXG PICTURE, STIEE EATING 

 snow: photographed IN THEIR OWN SHADOWS, THEY APPEAR 

 UNUSUALLY CONSPICUOUS ON THE SNOW 



ing steadily at a distant point on the side 

 of tlie mountain, led me to turn the glass 

 in that direction, where I saw four sheep 

 on the edge of a clifT, and towards whicli 

 the band was evidently going. Soon the 

 others were on the move across the 

 meadows, all headed, with the exception 

 of one distant flock, for the same spot, 

 and we saw our chances fading away. 

 In a short time these flocks had joined 

 the four at the other end of the ridge, a 

 portion doubtless of the flock which we 

 had previously photographed, and which 

 had sought out a new place for the night. 

 At 4 o'clock the little band of sheep 

 that had been fading at the extreme 

 western end of the meadow came trot- 

 ting back on a well-defined trail border- 

 ing a canyon, and I felt almost certain 

 that none of these sheep would come to 

 our blind, although on five previous days 

 all the sheep had gathered every after- 

 noon just above it. Now, more than 



ever, I was convinced that a set of sheep 

 decoys, as suggested previously, would 

 have brought most of these sheep within 

 photographing range. Tom even thought 

 that a white linen night-shirt would have 

 answered if he could have been permitted 

 to trot about in it in front of the blind. 



As the last flock continued to approach 

 it seemed best to slip down the side of 

 the slope as close to the creek as possible 

 and try for a picture as they went bv. 

 When a third of the way down I found 

 they were coming more rapidly than ex- 

 pected, and, in an effort to pass an 

 exposed place between two rocks — and 

 which should have been done by crawl- 

 ing very slowly — T carelessly jumped 

 across, and in landing behind the shelter- 

 ing rock I heard Tom's warning whistle. 



Looking down on the meadow, I saw 

 that all the sheep had reversed ends and 

 were rushing back again. Since these ani- 

 mals were more than a quarter of a mile 



487 



