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36 THE CONDOR VoL. X are also met in these places. Picard is about two miles from our camp, and from Picard to Brownell on the shore of Lower Klamath Lake is about the same distance. We jogged along at an easy pace which gave us every opportunity to study the country. At this time the sage brush was alive with Lincoln Finches (possibly Melospiza 1. slriala) and every little while small, light-colored chipmunks would scurry away to a safe retreat. A few miles from Picard a ridge of considerable size extends into Butte Val- ley and north of it begins the low, flat plain which contains Klamath Lake. Here a new character of country prevails. The sage brush diminishes in area and gives place to fertile grass-covered prairies, which are dotted by innumerable cattle. It is a scene of tranquil pastoral beauty and of a kind very unlike what one expects to see in California. It was no uncommon sight to see coyotes trotting leisurely about the outskirts of the grazing cattle, or stealthily following a miniature water- course in. quest of meadow-?nice. We captured one of these wary prowlers in a rather interes.ting manner. Some distance ahead on the left-hand side of the road, which ?[t this place follows close by a ridge, we saw a coyote quietly nosing in the long grass. Gaut' immediately, and without slacking the team, planned a means of capture. He handed the reins to me and slipping two buck-shot cartridges into a twenty gauge gun, quickly jumped out of the wagon while it was moving and then lay flat by ?the roadside. The coyote, on seeing the team so near was totally taken by surprise, and fearing to cross the road in front of the team, sought to gain the ridge by circling around back of the wagon. Not yet greatly alarmed, it started on an easy trot in the very direction where Gaut lay quietly concealed in the grass. Seeing. our plan was :working so successfully, I looked backward with bated breath, as the unsuspecting animal neared its doom. Suddenly there was a bang and the coyote d0ubled-.hp in a heap: a buckshot had severed its spinal column and it lay stone dead.'. It was a female and had recently eaten the paunch of a sheep. Shortly beyond the scene of this event we encountered a succession of ponds and small. water-courses nearly each one of which contained its flock of ducks-- mostly teal ? and mallards, tho approaching dusk made positive identification impos- sible. We paid .rather dearly for our loitering by the way, for nightfall was upon us before we. reached Brownell, and we spent two anxious hours wandering over the sage-brUsh-plains in the chilly autumn wind before the twinkling light of the lone ranch kept by Mrs. Brownell came in sight. Next morni-ng a beautiful sight greeted us. To the south of us Mt. Shasta rose sublimely in a freshly fallen coat of snow; and far to the north in Oregon, Mt. Pitt could be seen, scarcely less beautiful. In the clear, frosty air we could see ourselves cornpassed about by rugged ridges/red volcanic hills, while to the northeast lay Klamath Lake shining like a mirror and closed in by a wilderness of green rushes. Here we found trapping excellent, but a small variety of bird-life as the country was almost absolutely treeless. The occurrence of surpassing in- terest, however, was the countless numbers of wild geese present. Their hosts passing from and to the lake at night and morning positively produced a din. The region from .Picard to Klamath Lake is Upper Sonoran indicated by the large areas of sage brush and junipers. Much of it is desert-like, but about Klamath Lake the meadows are very wet. We left Brownell on October 2, and re- turned to Beswick that night. On the evening of the 4th we took the train at Ager for Grants Pass, Oregon, which we reached about 7:30 that night. The journey was exceedingly interesting. The railroad winds its way thru the pic- turesque Siskiyou Mountains in a most astonishing manner, some marvelous ex- amples of engineering being revealed. Next morning (Oct. 5) we left Grants Pass