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Bird - Lore 



Beyond is iiulhing but cactus and creosote. 

 A place of this kind encourages the birds 

 to take readily to civilizing influences. 



What a thrill when one catches his first 

 glimpse of a new bird he has never known 

 before! We had many such experiences, 

 for some of the Thrashers were new to 

 us; but we had seen and heard about the 

 Sage Thrasher in eastern Oregon, and so 

 we felt somewhat acquainted with this 

 singer of the desert. The Inca Dove was 

 new, yet his cooing notes made him seem 

 like an old friend in a new dress. But the 

 Vermilion Flycatcher, that flaming bird 

 of the desert, was something totally dif- 

 ferent. He was built like a Flycatcher, 

 and as he jumped from a dry twig and 

 swept low over the ground we heard the 

 snap of his bill. Among the gray, dust- 

 colored Thrashers and Doves, this bird of 

 scarlet looked as if he might have wan- 

 dered up from the tropics, and was out 

 of place. 



In the pepper trees, near where we saw 

 the Vermilion Flycatcher, there came 

 another Flycatcher of similar size but 



very different in dress. The coat was 

 brownish gray above and yellowish under- 

 neath — such a contrast to the bird of 

 brilliant colors! We wondered what it 

 could be. Then, as we watched, it swept 

 to the ground and seized a straw. This it 

 carried to the limb of a hackberry tree, 

 and we watched the bird weave it into 

 the walls of a newly started home. Then, 

 to our astonishment, it flew out to the 

 top of an old fence, where it was joined 

 by the scarlet bird. The gaily dressed 

 gentleman and the modest lady were 

 mates. Nature is so lavish in the one 

 case, and so covetous of color in the 

 other! 



The Desert Sparrow, like the Inca Dove, 

 has learned the advantages of nesting 

 near the dooryard. Even though there 

 are cats in the city, there are more dangers 

 out on the desert. A pair built in the 

 Virginia creeper near our porch. They 

 were so confiding and tame that, when we 

 set up the camera at the nest, they 

 seemed to regard us as obliging in furnish- 

 ing so convenient a place to alight. The 



THE PYRRHULOXIA PANTING IN THE HEAT 



