A First Glance at the Birds, 



tively few of you have had opportunity 

 to discriminate. Three species are com- 

 mon in this vicinity — Anna*s hummer, 

 a fair-sized bird of its kind, with a 

 back of shimmering green, showing a 

 yellowish tinge in certain lights, and a 

 wonderful crown and gorget of purplish 

 lilac, changing to a deep fiery red — an 

 ever present, ever familiar species ; the 

 rufous hummer, a much smaller form, 

 with the back colored a bright rufous, 

 somewhat intermixed with green, the red- 

 dish hue extending over much of the 

 breast, finally merging into white below, 

 with a throat of scintillating coppery red; 

 and Allen's hummer, indistinguishable 

 from the last except by the specialist. 

 The black-chinned and the calliope hum- 

 mers are confined to our mountains, 

 while Costa's hummer occurs only in 

 the southern portions of the state. 



There remains but one other order 



to claim our attention, the Passeres or 



perching birds. This is the highest 



group and includes the greatest number 



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