92 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. 



the flycatcher had a nest containing eggs. The 

 crows had difficulty in getting to the tree to begin 

 with, for the bee-birds fought them off ; and 

 though they lighted, were soon dislodged and 

 chased down the vineyard. The man was at work 

 there, and as the procession passed over his head 

 the bee-bird dove at the crow ; the crow struck 

 back at him, crushing his skull, and the flycatcher 

 dropped through the air, dead ! The other bee- 

 bird followed its dead mate to the ground, and 

 then, without a cry, flew to a tree and let the 

 crows go on their way. 



The bee-bird was one of the noisiest birds 

 about the ranch-house, but commoner than he ; in 

 fact, the most abundant bird, next to the linnet 

 and blackbird, was the California chewink, or, as 

 the ranchman appropriately called him, the ' brown 

 chippie ; ' for he does not look like the handsome 

 chewink we know, but is a fat, dun brown bird 

 with a thin chip that he utters on all occasions. 

 He is about the size of the eastern robin, and, 

 except when nesting, almost as familiar. There 

 were brown chippies in the door-yard, brown chip- 

 pies around the barns, and brown chippies in the 

 brush till one got tired of the sight of them. 



The temptations that come to conscientious 

 observers are common to humanity, and one of 

 the subtlest is to undervalue what is at hand and 

 overvalue the rare or distant. Unless a bird is 

 peculiarly interesting, it requires a definite effort 



