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Jan., 1908 NOTES FROM THE DIARY OF A NATURALIST IN NORTHERN CALIF. 33 were quite common, and for that spot we made preparations to start. A large pan- ther skin nailed to a pine tree, recorded the capture of its owner two nights before and gave us an authentic record of this animal's presence in this locality. It was shot within the very camp and when it was stealthily watching the four-year-old boy of one of the herders. At this point it might be wise to add that the Yallo Bally Mountains are inhabited almost solely in the summer time by sheep and goat herders with their flocks. The effects of these close-cropping animals are all too noticeable. First come the sheep, the closely-massed herds moving up the moun- tain sides, and destroying every blade and leaf as a blight. Following in their wake, the goats with their browsing habit consume the foliage of the shrubbery as high as they can reach. Thus the region of their operations is devastated almost as thoroly as fire could accomplish the same result. The effect upon ground and shrubbery frequenting species of birds cannot help but be harmful to some degree. We could not otherwise explain the absence of Dusky Grouse and Mountain Quail from regions thus effected, while they were commonly met with in others. Our start on the second of August was delayed by the escape of one of ihe mules the night before, the animal only being captured after a five-mile tramp to a neighboring herd of horses. With a half-day thus lost, we resumed our prepara- tions, and were just on the point of putting the pack-saddle on the other mule, when in some unaccountable spirit of perversity it suddenly lurched backwards breaking its tether rope, and with a snort and the clattering of hoofs was off down the mountain in just the opposite direction from which the other had taken. By an act of stupidity as sudden and as unaccountable as its previous one had been cunning, one of us was able to walk up to its side and pick up its lead rope. After a long trudge up the mountain we gained camp, and quickly completing our pack- ing got under way at five o'clock, approximately just a day behind. Traveling till dark we luckily came upon a small brook and there camped for the night. Next morning an hour's traveling along the timbered ridge, upon whose upper extremity we had camped, brought us to a turn in the trail that led downward, and soon after we came out into a fenced~in clearing and in sight of the deserted ranch houses for which we were seeking. This spot, Barney's ranch, could not help but appeal to the lover of the romantic and picturesque. Nature in a relenting mood lind per- mitted a broad level meadow to rest in the steep mountain side where rugged cliffs and heavy forests prevailed elsewhere. An old rail fence was at the very edge of a steep precipice at whose base dashed the turbulent waters of Eel River: a frowning cliff was in the rear; and on either side the forests reached to the stockade-like fence, now crumbling with age. The houses, tho long deserted, were still well- preserved and showed the thrift and intelligence of their former owners. They stood in the shade of wide branching trees and were guarded by a number of lofty spruces. Here on the wide veranda the dwellers could hear the pleasant purl of a close-by brook, or the deeper roar of the river below. Rows of fruit trees and a patch of berry bushes stood in the rear of the house, and close to the mountain side was the spacious barn. In a word every sign indicated a prosperous and well- ordered establishment, and one could scarce understand why a place of such natural beauty, and so highly improved by the art of man should have ever been deserted. But two graves on a nearby knoll probably told the story. Here lay the parents, and the children longing for greater activity and a larger world had become city dwel- lers, and their picturesque home was now a forgotten thing. In the tranquil and impressive beauty of this spot, Bunnell and I got a pleas- ure entirely separate from that of our natural history work. Here small mammals and birds were quite abundant, but not a "varmint" did we see. We had a de-