in the course of the summer, and at least 290 of that distance was over the most infamous trails that could be found on the earth. As I have before intimated, we had down timber, criscrossed and piled in every shape that Satan could ever invent. We had rocks scrambled and jumbled in every way an earthquake, or a volcano, or any possible shaking up of the earth could ever place them. We had muskeags with bottoms 3 feet below the surface, and oth

little good trail there was, and only fell with me once. Not once did he make a misstep, and no matter how steep the hill, if I saw fit to ride up or down he always landed me at the top or the bottom, as the case might be, right end up with care. He fell with me just once, but I do not blame him for that. We were crossing a big bog through which ran a brook, about 4 feet wide and 3 feet deep. Old Surefoot went in all right, and would have gone out

ers without bottom. We forded creeks running white over big boulders, and rivers of innumerable channels, that ran through serpentine ways over beds of quicksand. We climbed hills that were so straight up they leaned back, and we descended others that were a little more than straight down. Of course, I always dismount and lead my horse up and down the steep places, and over as many of the other bad places as possible, but in some cases you must ride or stay where you are. Old Surefoot took me over all such bad spots and over what

properly on the other side if he had had a decent show; but when he undertook to mount the opposite bank one foot went through the overhanging sod clear up to his breast, and his hind foot being in the middle of the creek, deep in the mud, the situation was a little too much for him and he took a header. Any horse would have done likewise in his place. If I had been carrying a big man I would have dumped him in the creek, too.

Old Surefoot was as strong as an ox, yet as kind and as gentle as a kitten. I

don't believe he knew how to buck, but he had one peculiarity; he seemed to have bad dreams at night. Every few minutes, during the first 3 or 4 miles out from camp, he would seem to imagine that some beast was springing at him from behind, and he would make a desperate leap to get away from it. At first he came near going out from under me, but I remembered his trick from that on, and was always careful to keep a good seat in the saddle. Surefoot must have killed some Indian in his younger days, who probably had beaten or abused him in some way, and possibly the ghost of the red man came back and haunted the old horse. Whether this was so or not, there was something on his mind, and it affected him mostly at night.

Naturally, I became warmly attached to the dear old beast, and one of the most trying experiences of my life was parting

with him when I came away. I would have brought him home, if I could have done so reasonably, but I knew he would not shine among the fine haired horses of the East.

I got stuck on another cayuse years ago, and brought him all the way from Spokane to Chicago, where I lived at the time. He had carried me over hundreds of miles of mountain trails, and through all kinds of difficulties; but he could not sabe the city streets. I lent him to a friend to ride one day, and the poor little cayuse slipped on a street car rail, broke his fetlock joint, and we had to kill him. That is why I did not think it best to negotiate for permission to bring Surefoot to New York. However, I made Brewster promise me, with his hand on his heart, that he would never allow Surefoot to carry a pack, and that he would kill any man at sight who might ever undertake to abuse the horse in any

way.

Scoters, those large black ducks more generally known as sea coots in America, are found throughout the Northern hemisphere. Except the eiders, they are the most maritime of ducks, being most abundant on the sea coasts, and are frequently seen far out of sight of land. They also occur more or less commonly on the larger lakes, and sometimes on smaller bodies of water, especially where these are of a saline nature. Even when killed on fresh water the flesh of scoters is rank and fishy,

move noiselessly, but on alighting again they make a few more whistling strokes and hold their wings pointed high up over the back until their impetus is exhausted.

In diving, scoters open their wings slightly and plunge abruptly forward; but I do not think, from my own observations, that they use the wings when under water, propelling themselves solely with their feethuge webbed paddles, larger than those of any other duck. There are 6 species of scoters known to

but numbers are eaten, when better ducks are not available, by masking their strong flavor with various condiments.

Scoters are among the hardest of all waterfowl to kill. Not only are they most expert divers, but the quantity of shot they can carry is astonishing. They rise with difficulty, throwing great spouts of water up with each stroke of their powerful feet, which they use to help them clear the surface. Once clear their feet are spread wide apart until they are well on the wing. When rising they make a deep, whistling noise with their wings, especially noticeable in the water, When in full flight their wings

science. Of these, 3 are common to America: the white winged, the surf and the American. The white winged scoter, Oidemia deglandi, more commonly called white winged coot, is found from Atlantic to Pacific. In Europe and Northern Asia it is replaced by the velvet scoter, O. fusca, and in Northeast Asia by the Kamchatkan scoter, O. stegneri, both of which are closely allied species, with the same general char

acter.

The white winged scoter is the most numerous and generally distributed of the genus in America, and is the species most frequently found on inland waters. From the

other American species it can always be told by the broad white patch on the wing, which is present in both sexes. It is a large duck, large males weighing about 5 pounds.

The note of the male is a high pitched, grating quack, seldom heard, as they are usually silent.

When courting, the males chase one another along the surface of the water. Every now and then one will dive and come up underneath another male, which then affects great terror and immediately dives itself, this play being repeated for hours.

On the coast of Southern British Columbia great numbers of these birds can be

red on inner and rose pink on outer surfaces. In the female the iris is brown, bill blackish, and feet dusky reddish with black webs.

The surf scoter, Oidemia perspicillata, the smallest of the genus, can always be told by the absence of white from the wing and the presence of a white patch on the nape in both sexes. In range and habits it nearly resembles the white winged species, but secms to prefer shallower water, feeding close in shore, often among the tumbling surf from which it derives its name. The note of the male is a curious liquid "puk," resembling a drop of water falling in some

seen in summer, nearly all old males; but none of the scoters breed there. The white winged species breeds in the Northern portion of the Province, East of the Rockies also, and even South of the 49th parallel. About the 1st of October great flights of females and young arrive on the coasts. String follows string in rapid succession, flying in lines abreast, and not one behind the other.

The male white winged scoter is a handsome bird, his velvety, dead black plumage being relieved by the broad white wing patch, and small white mark behind the eyes. The iris in the male is white; bill orange red and white, with the knob and base black; feet black, blotched with orange

cavernous pool. This note is generally heard when the males are courting, 6 or 8 of them whirling around like whirligig beetles, with their heads high in the air.

The iris in the male is pearly white, bill vividly colored with red, orange, and Chinese white, the 2 hard bosses at the base black; feet red, the joints and webs dusky black. In the female the iris is grayish brown, bill blackish and feet dull red with webs blackish.

The American scoter, Oidemia Americana, is nearly as large as the white winged. In the male American the plumage is entirely black. The female is lighter in color than either of the other species; the light colored throat and cheeks and absence of a

white wing bar being sufficient to distinguish her from other female scoters of America.

In the old world the American scoter is replaced by a closely allied species, Oidemia nigra.

The American scoter is by far the most maritime of the 3 species found on this continent, and I have never seen it inland. though it occurs on the great lakes. It loves to frequent the wild, open shores, seldom venturing into the land-locked harbors where the other species swarm; in this respect resembling the harlequin duck, with which it often associates.

Like the harlequin, small flocks of American scoters, composed of half a dozen males and a female or 2, are constantly on the wing in fine, calm weather. A female leads, the males bunched in behind her, all uttering their plaintive call. After ascending some 50 feet from the water they swing around and alight a quarter of a mile away, when another flock will rise and go through the same performance. The cry is a sweet and mournful whistle, pitched in a low key. Once heard it will always conjure up visions of the opal tinted, glassy reaches of the Pacific sounds, with their horizon of violet peaks in jagged outline against the saffron sky, the water studded with floating sea fowl and the air resonant with the mournful cadence of the scoter's cries. The males also have another note, a hoarse, guttural chuckle, exactly like that of a small Eastern frog, When uttering it, the scoters shoot