FIELD-DAYS IN CALIFORNIA 



out and find them hard at it. I have had morti- 

 fying experiences in this line, and hope I have 

 learned wisdom. 



Sometimes I have been tempted to imagine 

 that wild creatures amuse themselves by laying 

 up little surprises of one sort and another for our 

 humiliation, so often do we find them doing some- 

 thing wholly unexpected — building a nest in 

 some preposterous situation, breaking out with 

 some absolutely uncharacteristic song, or other- 

 wise conducting themselves in a manner which 

 after years of intimate acquaintance we should 

 have pronounced impossible. 



Tell what you have seen, say I ; but if you 

 value your self-respect as what is called an ob- 

 server (a word I have wearied of), beware of nega- 

 tive assertions. Better know less and be sure 

 of it. 



As for this clever rotatory method of stirring 

 up the bottom of shallow pools, it is most likely 

 common to phalaropes in general, like the pre- 

 eminence by them so gallantly accorded to the 

 feminine sex. If this should turn out to be true, 

 I should be in favor of naming them the whirli- 

 gig family, according to the good old aboriginal 

 custom of descriptive cognomens. "Whirligig 

 birds"; yes, I think that would be excellent — 

 rememberable and expressive. 



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