ally true of the
wet meadows or soil-covered sections that are continually watered by
melting snows.

In the neighborhood of a snowdrift, at an altitude of twelve thousand
feet, I one day gathered in a small area one hundred and forty-two
varieties of plants. Areas of "eternal snows," though numerous, are
small, and with few exceptions, above twelve thousand feet. Here and
there above timber-line are many small areas of moorland, which, both
in appearance and in vegetation, seem to belong in the tundras of
Siberia.

While these mountains carry nearly one hundred varieties of trees and
shrubs, the more abundant kinds of trees number less than a score.
These are scattered over the mountains between the altitudes of six
thousand and twelve thousand feet, while, charming and enlivening the
entire mountain-section, are more than a thousand varieties of wild
flowers.

Bird-life is abundant on the Rockies. No State east of the Mississippi
can show as great a variety as Colorado. Many species of birds well
known in the East are found there, though, generally, they are in some
way slightly modified. Most Rocky Mountain birds sound their notes a
trifle more loudly than their Eastern relatives. Some of them are a
little larger, and many of them have their colors slightly
intensified.

Many of the larger animals thrive on the slopes of the Rockies. Deer
are frequently seen. Bobcats, mountain lions, and foxes leave many
records. In September bears find the choke-cherry bushes and, standing
on their hind legs, feed eagerly on the cherries, leaves, and
good-sized sections of the twigs. The ground-hog apparently manages to
live well, for he seems always fat. There is that wise little fellow
the coyote. He probably knows more than he is given credit for
knowing, and I am glad to say for him that I believe he does man more
good than harm. He is a great destroyer of meadow mice. He digs out
gophers. Sometimes his meal is made upon rabbits or grasshoppers,
and I have seen him feeding upon wild plums.

There are hundreds of ruins of the beaver's engineering works.
Countless dams and fillings he has made. On the upper St. Vrain he
still maintains his picturesque rustic home. Most of the present
beaver homes are in high, secluded places, some of them at an altitude
of eleven thousand feet. In midsummer, near most beaver homes one
finds columbines, fringed blue gentians, orchids, and lupines
blooming, while many of the ponds are green