IN A WILD ANIMAL REPUBLIC. 



423 



in the Park are the hundreds of swallows 

 twittering and flying around the cliff over- 

 looking the boiling sulphur springs. Un- 

 mindful of the fumes of sulphur, the prox- 

 imity of scalding steam, and the alarming 

 subterranean noises, these little birds 

 skim through the air and enter the 

 queer holes and cracks in the cliff, as cheer- 

 ful and happy as house martens in a farm- 

 yard. 



At the sound of the rumbling of the 

 Fountain Hotel wagon, which hauls gar- 

 bage to the dumping ground, bears appear, 

 and, along with them comes a beautiful, 

 yellow coated, red throated Louisiana 

 tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) . This lit- 

 tle bird moves unmolested among its big 

 neighbors, seeking for dainties in the cast- 

 away food. Nowadays it is a surprise and 

 a joy to see a bird of brilliant plumage 

 alive and in its native haunts, instead of 

 perched askew on a woman's hat. 



On Yellowstone lake and Yellowstone 

 river pelicans may be seen floating or sail- 

 ing in the air overhead. The sight of free 

 wild pelicans conveys an impression 

 strangely different from that obtained by 

 viewing the same bird in captivity, where 

 its long beak, with its fleshy bag attached, 

 gives the creature a comical, clumsy look, 

 and little prepares us for the graceful bird 

 seen in the Park. 



Geese, ducks and sandhill cranes are nu- 

 merous and tame. At one place wild 

 geese marched along the bank of a stream 

 within 20 feet of our surrey, and viewed 

 us without alarm. The ducks only showed 

 their distrust by placing themselves be- 

 tween us and their fluffy little broods. 

 Swans are rarer and wilder. As might be 

 expected, birds of prey are numerous and 

 bold. The crags are crowned with their ey- 

 ries, and every bit of open grass land has its 

 hovering hawks, on the lookout for un- 

 wary shrews, moles, or gophers. Many 

 varieties of grouse inhabit the woods and 

 prairies, and in winter numbers of beautiful 

 magpies. The hoarse croak of the raven 

 can be heard at the Thumb, and crows are 

 seen in all parts of the Park. The black 

 headed jay, a variety new to me, and the 

 Canadian jay, are not only tame, but mis- 

 chievous. Having occasion to use my 

 pocketknife. I placed it temporarily on a 



stump near camp, and after twice saving 

 it only by shouts and mad rushes, I was at 

 last compelled to put it in my pocket to 

 prevent the jays from carrying it away. 



While many of the smaller birds are 

 either new or unfamiliar to Atlantic coast 

 people, their old friend the robin makes 

 his home in the Park. The interesting 

 little water ousel inhabits the banks of 

 the Gardiner and the Gibbon rivers, gulls 

 are in evidence wherever there is any ex- 

 panse of water, and kingfishers are common. 



We have all read of ospreys, which, 

 having struck fish too large for them to 

 manage, unable to disengage their hooked 

 talons, have perished, their bodies having 

 been afterward found, still attached to the 

 live fish. 



I now believe these stories. One day we 

 were driving along the shores of Yellow- 

 stone lake, and saw an osprey fall like a 

 stone from the sky into the water near 

 and disappear beneath the waves. Think- 

 ing it had been drowned, we were about to 

 resume our journey, when the fluttering 

 tips of the hawk's wings appeared. The 

 bird slowly rose with an immense trout in 

 its talons, but after 3 times clearing the 

 water, only to fall back again, it dropped 

 the fish and flew wearily away. 



To understand the Yellowstone animals 

 we must remember that brutes are direct 

 and practical in their minds, and to what 

 does not immediately concern the gratifi- 

 cation of their desires they pay little at- 

 tention. 



Fear greatly influences the actions of 

 man and beast, and creatures absolutely 

 devoid of this governing principle would 

 soon be exterminated. The presence of 

 man has always meant disaster and death to 

 wild animals, so that the taint of his pres- 

 ence in the air is enough to stampede a 

 herd of ipoo elk. 



It is easy, then, to understand that "wild 

 animals" are only animals which fear man; 

 and when experience can show their 

 fears groundless, they will no more heed 

 man than they will any other nonpreda- 

 ceous creature. This is the happy state 

 which converts Yellowstone Park into an 

 Eden for all lovers of Nature. 



Long live the Animal Republic! 



"I can't give you anything, my man ; 

 charity begins at home." 



"All right, boss ; I'm willin' to go home 

 with you." — Life. 



