NATURE NOTES
FROM
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

The following explanation as to how the dogwood got its name appeared in the Service Letter of the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters under date of March 3, 1932:

A very astringent concoction used to be steeped from the dogwood and used to wash mangy dogs. That is how the tree probably got its name. The bark of the flowering dogwood yields quinine.

On May 28th Harold Ratcliff reports pasque flowers and alpine forget-me-nots in bloom on the Boulder Field Trail at an altitude of 11,200 feet.

Bears are making their appearance. Mrs. Dings encountered one face to face while fishing on Cow Creek. A short time afterward a party of tourists reported one between Windriver Ranch and Baldpate Inn. The latest report is from Shep Husted who resents a bear coming to the back door and eating his dog's food.

On June 1st, at an altitude of approximately 11,500 feet, I found marmots carrying nesting material to the burrows.

During the last two weeks of May bucks have been seen with approximately 6 inches of antler in the velvet.

Several requests have come in during the past month for the name of the small canary-like bird with a yellow body, and black wings. The bird is the American Goldfinch, listed as a rare migrant in late summer. It is interesting to note that this is the first report of Goldfinches in spring.