NATURE LEAVES 



flew from their plumage as they jumped up, as if 

 they had been earthing their wings. 



My next adventure was with a young but fully 

 grown bluebird, which crawled and fluttered away 

 from my feet as I came upon it in the open. It 

 could not fly, and I easily picked it up. Its plumage 

 showed the mingled blue and speckled brown of the 

 immature bird. I looked it over, but could see no 

 mark or sign of injury to wing or body. Its plum- 

 age was unruffled and its eye bright, but its move- 

 ments were feeble. Was it ill or starved? I could not 

 tell which, probably the latter. It may have got 

 lost from the brood and was not yet able to forage 

 for itself. I left it under the edge of a rock, where 

 the fresh blue of the ends of its wings and tail held 

 my eye a moment as I turned to go. 



Farther along, under some shelving rocks, I came 

 upon two empty phcebes' nests a relic of bird-life 

 that always gives a touch to the rocks that I delight 

 in. I find none of these nests placed lower than 

 three feet from the ground, and always in places 

 that seem to be carefully chosen with reference to 

 enemies that can reach and climb. 



Two or three woodchucks, which I bagged with 

 niy eye, completed my afternoon's adventures. 



III. IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 



In southern California the seasons all go hand in 

 hand, and dance around one like a ring of girls, first 

 117 



