March in the Pine Woods, 



average Californian it has become, but a 

 word of contrast may not be out of 

 place in the present connection. Its 

 most distinctive feature is its crest, 

 formed by a series of beautiful, erect, 

 black plumes, broadening at their ter- 

 minals and giving the bird's head much 

 the effect of a plumed helmet. When 

 surprised or alarmed this showy append- 

 age is thrown forward over the beak, 

 but habitually it stands erect, trembling 

 and quivering with the restless motions 

 of the head as the bird runs hither and 

 thither over the ground, in search of 

 food. The general color is olive-brown 

 and gray, while the throat is black, bor- 

 dered all around with a rim of white. 

 The neck is finely mottled with white, 

 the breast is plumbeous, and the belly 

 buff and chestnut, marked in a curious 

 scaled pattern. The familiar call of this 

 bird is a cu cuck' cu^ the accented 

 syllable pitched on a higher key than 

 the other two. When suddenly startled 

 from the covert, a flock of these birds 

 148, 



