BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



incarnate, this bird elf never ceases to fascinate and delight all 

 who make his acquaintance. 



Many a familiar friend met afield in rambles about the 

 San Frcincisco Bay region here salutes me in the mountain 

 fastness. The lazuli-bunting flashes blue amid the Oregon 

 ash trees, the spurred towhee, in ruddy black and white, calls 

 peevishly from the thickets, and the sweet song of the demure 

 warbling vireo blends with the wind whisper in birch and 

 maple. The song-sparrow shakes the same sweet ditty from 

 his streaked breast and the animated cadence of the dainty 

 golden summer warbler rings from the willows by the stream. 

 The high, sustained trill of the chipping sparrow is on the 

 breeze, and the robin feeds the young in her mud nest beside 

 our camp. The lusty call of the flicker and the squawk of 

 the California jay unite in chorus with the more explosive 

 laughter and shouting of his crested kinsmen. Up and down 

 the stream on steady wings flies the kingfisher, uttering his 

 rattling call in mid-air, ever keeping a watchful eye on the 

 trout-pools below. White-bellied- and cliff-swallows cleave 

 the sky on their keen pointed wings, with high chattering cries 

 as they pursue their winged prey. 



Other birds there are in this transition region where the 

 feathered denizens of the valleys and mountains assemble dur- 

 ing their nesting-time. The shy little brown creeper with 

 pensive, high-pitched cheep, constantly uttered, moves cease- 

 lessly in spirals around the tree trunks from the roots up, pry- 

 ing with delicate bill into every mossy cranny for its insect 

 food. The red-breasted sapsucker is busily hammering holes 

 in the tree tnmks. With his bold bright crimson head, the red 

 splash on his breast, and the broad longitudinal bar of white 



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