Berkeley in May. 



very pleasant little fellow he is to know, 

 with his old-fashioned ways and simple, 

 quiet life by the stream. His mate, I 

 suspect, has hidden her mossy nest in 

 some little niche in the clay bank of the 

 canon, among the roots of some old 

 tree, perhaps, for I have often found it 

 in such situations ; and I dare say she is 

 setting upon ^vq delicate white eggs, 

 thickly speckled with brown, for such is 

 the habit with these little folk; and, 

 furthermore, I think there is no doubt 

 that she listens to the pee wit of her 

 lord and master with all the pride and 

 delight of a dutiful wife and a proud 

 mother. Here indeed do we find that 

 life of rural simplicity for which we 

 have so often sighed in vain ! 



The western flycatcher does not have 

 the canons all to himself these heydays 

 in May. Snugly tucked away in a hole in 

 a rotten live-oak a pair of Vigor's wrens 

 have made their home. Higher up in 

 another oak, where a limb has broken 

 off, and the water has trickled into 

 170 



