BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



liar birds, which old-time ornithologists supposed to be related 

 to the swallow, but which are now considered to be more 

 closely allied to the humming-bird and goatsucker families. 

 The common chimney-swift (or swallow, as it is still some- 

 times incorrectly called) is a familiar example of the group, 

 which numbers only four North American forms, but the white- 

 throated swift is greatly restricted in distribution, and I had 

 never before had so good an opportunity to observe its habits. 

 It is a brown bird, with an irregular white patch on the throat 

 and breast. It is a very swift flier, alternately soaring and 

 fluttering with rapid vibrations of the wings, and frequently 

 utters its high, nervous, incisive and prolonged twitter while 

 darting through the air. Large flocks haunted the mission ruins, 

 alighting upon the ragged edge of the flat church dome — the 

 only portion of the stately stone pile which still holds its head 

 up in defiance of the ravages of time. 



Upon these same ruined chancel arches the cliff-swallows 

 have plastered their mud nests, oblivious of the pains which had 

 been bestowed by patient hands, no doubt of Indian neophytes, 

 upon the delicate green design which had been painted upon 

 the cement as interior decoration of the church. There is no 

 one to care now how much the swallows may cover the pat- 

 terns with their homes, and the nests add not a little to the 

 poetic charm of the ruin. In January, however, the cliff- 

 swallows were away in the south, and only a few of the early 

 white-breasted swallows were noticed about Capistrano. 



The black pewee was one of the most constant inhabitants 

 of the ruin. Sometimes he sat in the garden among the wall- 

 flowers and geraniums which old Pedro Verdugo attended, or 

 again he would rest upon the tiles or upon a projecting door 



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