— 208 The Little Missouri “ Bad Lands.” [ April, 
only trees met with, — little wooded oases in a vast expanse of 
rolling, grassy prairie. In crossing these prairies we miss, even in 
June, when the vegetation is in its greatest freshness, the variety 
and profusion of flowers that give to the more southern prairies 
the aspect of a vast flower-garden, — the patches of pink, orange, 
yellow, and other bright tints produced by the social grouping of 
the prevailing species, which impart their own hues to broad areas 
of the landscape, as do often the buttercups and daisies to New 
England hill-sides. Most conspicuous on the Dakota prairies, 
west of the Missouri, are the little prairie roses (Rosa blanda — 
Ait.), which fill the air with their delicate perfume, and seem 
often to almost cover the ground in their abundance. These 
gems of the prairie in a measure atone for the absence of a 
greater variety of showy flowering plants. 
Bird life is abundant over these prairies, they being everywhere 
enlivened by the few peculiar kinds, such as larks, buntings, and 
sparrows, that so eminently characterize the Plains. Among 
them, however, the ornithologist detects with delight both the 
Missouri skylark (Neocorys Spraguei Sel.) and Baird’s bunting 
(Centronyx Bairdit Bd.), species which until a few years since 
were among the least known of the birds of the continent. Few 
mammals attract our attention, the prong horn, or so-called 
“antelope ” (Antilocapra Americana Ord), being the chief, 
which, while notable for its grace and beauty, is also the principal 
game animal of this portion of the Plains; the American bison, 
or “buffalo,” which existed here but a few years since, and 
whose trails still remain, having now wholly disappeared from 
the region east. of the Yellowstone. The « prairie-dog towns” 
are somewhat frequent, their little occupants being ever objects 
of interest ; occasionally the prairie hare (Lepus campestris 
Bach.), or jackass rabbit, as more commonly called, surprised 
by our approach, scampers away in all possible haste, his im- 
mense ears and very long legs giving him the appearance of 
being much larger than he really is, io 
After days of pleasant journeying amid such scenes as these, 
we find ourselves upon the border of the “ Bad Lands,” to the 
exploration of which we have long looked forward with m 
much interest. Though they are but a few miles distant, there is 
nothing as yet to indicate their proximity; we see before us 
only the same low ridge that in prairie landscapes seems ever t0 
bound the horizon. Reaching the crest of this low ridge, how- 
ever, we have before us, instead of another. similar swell, one of oe 
