A First Glance at the Birds, 



perhaps the most destructive to chickens, 

 a large, powerful bird, bluish gray on 

 the back and with fine, wavy bars on the 

 breast; and the red-breasted hawk, an 

 ally of the red-tail. Both the golden 

 and bald eagles are inhabitants of the 

 wilder portions of the state. 



It does not require an expert ornithol- 

 ogist to tell an owl, but to distinguish 

 the different genera and species is not at 

 all times so easy. The American barn- 

 owl, which is very like its European 

 kinsman, so famed in song and story as 

 the inhabitant of ruined places, is a com- 

 mon resident in the valleys of California. 

 Its note is a wild screech, generally ut- 

 tered as the bird flies past on noiseless 

 wings, a moving shadow against the sky. 

 Although the barn-owls prefer ruins for 

 a home their aesthetic sense must be 

 satisfied, for the most part, in this new 

 country, with deserted barns. In the 

 southern California missions, however, 

 they find abiding places very much to 

 their liking. 



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