In a Mission Patio, 



the moment! Surely they heard the 

 linnet sing as I hear it now! What 

 lover but would listen to such a passion- 

 ate outburst? And now they are all 

 gone and forgotten, the weeds have 

 grown up into trees above them, and 

 the birds still sing in the branches ! 



The mission stands upon a gentle 

 swell of land with the willow-fringed 

 arroyo below it at one side, its cool 

 stream winding down between the hills 

 to the sea, which may be seen from the 

 outer corridors of the mission as a 

 little strip of blue in a gap of the hills. 

 The willows are a favorite resort of 

 the western Maryland yellowthroat, a 

 beautiful little warbler which winters 

 there. Its back is clear olive-green, 

 changing to grayish on the head, its 

 under parts are a beautiful pure yellow, 

 most brilliant on the throat and under 

 tail-coverts, while a large black mask 

 covers the sides of the face, extending 

 through the eye to the base of the bill, 

 and surmounted by a narrow line of 



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