February in Berkeley, 



ceaselessly uttering its short tsip^ tsip, 

 flits from spray to spray, and the big 

 red-winged flicker flies hastily away at 

 our approach. The shy, dwarf hermit- 

 thrush, in its hues of brown, shrinks 

 into the bushes with an occasional chuck, 

 chuck, which gives no intimation of the 

 glories of its summer song. 



Only once during my rambles about 

 Berkeley have I discovered the strange 

 Townsend's flycatcher. It is a bird of 

 the west, quite as unique among North 

 American forms as the wren-tit or 

 phainopepla. It is much like a fly- 

 catcher in general appearance, but in 

 structure quite as closely allied to the 

 thrushes. It is rather larger than a 

 sparrow in size, decidedly longer and 

 more slender, and is colored a plain, 

 slaty gray all over, becoming lighter 

 upon the under parts of the body. It 

 usually inhabits the mountains and 

 is a rare, shy creature, very easily 

 overlooked on account of its severe 

 coloring. 



142 



