ANIMAL LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO. 221 
which extend into the Park, and on: all the peaks around, partic- 
ularly above the limits of tree vegetation their trails were very 
common, and their traces abundant to the summits of the less 
known peaks. The streams in the Park abound in trout. 
Buffalo are said to have been abundant in South Park, and adja- 
cent mountains previous to 1862; then came the rush of miners, 
when the buffaloes were speedily exterminated. A few were shot 
in 1867 ; one was said to have been shot (near Pike’s Peak) in 
1868 ; but we heard of none in 1869. They were frequently de- 
scribed to me as a marked variety known to the hunters as Moun- 
tain buffalo, and quite unlike the buffalo of the plains, smaller in 
Size, the hair longer, more shaggy, and blacker, with other well- 
marked differences.* I found their skulls up to 11,000 feet, both 
in the grassy valleys (called parks) and in the forests. All the 
skulls seen were smaller than those common on the pla in 
Grizzly Bears are quite common, and range to above 18, 000 feet 
at this season. Six were seen above this altitude on Gray’s Peak 
and Mt. Yale, and their traces seen in other places. Judging from 
the few seen, and from skins examined in Denver, they are smaller 
than those of California, the hair not so long and shaggy, the color 
more silvery, or truly grizzled, than with the Californian animals. 
Coleoptera were wonderfully sparse compared with any other 
region I ever saw, this applying not only to the portions of the 
mountains visited but also to the plain near the base of the moun- 
tains. I always carried a bottle of strong alcohol in my pocket 
for preserving such as I found but the collection was a ridiculously 
small one. It is probable, however, that a skilled collector would 
have been more successful. But few were collected feeding upon 
herbage, the most being seavenger beetles, found by examining 
the dung or dead bodies of animals. Some of these latter were 
found at an altitude of more than 13,000 feet, but they were few. 
On the high Sierras of California certain herbivorous beetles are 
found abundantly ; on the summits of similarly high peaks in Col- 
. orado they were looked for, but not one was found. i 
Lepidoptera were very abundant above the forest line, partic- 
ularly on sunny slopes at 12,000 or 13,000 feet, and where there 
was an abundant alpine vegetation. In such localities they were 
vastly more numerous than I ever saw them in similar situations 
* See Mr Hayes’ remarks on this subject on p. 118. Sint: 
