72 
The Colorado River 
country seems made for them,—the rocks, cliffs, canyons, pit-> 
ahayas, Joshuas, and all the rest of it. Notwithstanding their 
venom they have beauty, and when one is seen at the bottom 
of some lonely, unfrequented canyon, tail buzzing, head erect, 
and defiant, glistening eyes, a man feels like apologising for the 
intrusion. Above in the limpid sunlight floats the great eagle, 
deadly enemy of the rattlesnake; from a near-by bush the ex¬ 
quisite song of the mocking-bird trills out, and far up the rocks 
the hoof-strokes 
of the mountain 
sheep strike with 
a rattle of stones 
that seems music 
in the crystal air. 
Yonder the wild 
turkey calls from 
the pine trees, or 
we hark to the 
whir of the grouse 
or the pine-hen. 
Noisy magpies 
startle the silence 
of the northern 
districts, and the 
sage-hen and the 
rabbit everywhere 
break the solitude 
of your walk. 
Turn up a stone 
and sometimes 
you see a revengeful scorpion: anon the huge tarantula 
comes forth to look at the camp-fire. As one sits resting 
on a barren ledge, the little swifts come out to make his ac¬ 
quaintance. Whistle softly and a bright-coated fellow will run 
up even upon your shoulder to show his appreciation of the 
Swan Song. Antelope dart scornfully away across the open 
plains, and the little coyote halts in his course to turn the in¬ 
quisitive gaze of his pretty bright eyes upon this new animal 
A Kaibab Pai Ute. 
Posed by Thomas Moran. 
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Geol. Survey. 
