In a Mission Patio, 



into a swampy patch the red-winged 

 blackbirds congregate in vast numbers, 

 and their melodious clatter fills the air 

 with a sort of joyous stir. They are 

 among the showiest of our birds with 

 their glossy black plumage and brilliant 

 scarlet shoulder patches. I fancy that 

 even the devout Father Serra, with mind 

 intent upon the baptism of more Indian 

 babies, must have looked up now and 

 then as he passed a swamp crowded 

 with these birds and rejoiced with the 

 beautiful creatures so full of the joy of 

 the open air and the winter sunshine. 



Brewer's blackbird was as abundant 

 in the upland fields as the red wings 

 were in the swamps. This species, by 

 the way, is the only true blackbird 

 found in California, and therefore can- 

 not be confounded with anything else 

 unless it be the crow, which is fully 

 twice its size. The crows were exceed- 

 ingly abundant about Capistrano, and 

 no doubt their noisy calls and croaks 

 were sweeter to my ear than to the 

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