FIELD-DAYS IN CALIFORNIA 



But when I had waited long enough, and the 

 age of miracles seemed to be for the time being 

 past, I took my way homeward, pondering over 

 what I had seen. 



Once there, I had recourse to the Handbook. 

 My first turn of the leaves was to Frazar's 

 oyster-catcher. Nothing fitted. I knew it would 

 be so, I protested to myself. The idea was ab- 

 surd. For one thing, no oyster-catcher would 

 ever be found in so unlikely a place. 



But on the margin of the same leaf (so near a 

 shot had I made) under a description of the ruddy 

 turnstone I saw written in my own hand, sup- 

 plying the book's too frequent lack, " Legs bright 

 orange-red." "Here we have it," said I; and on 

 reading the account of that bird's juvenile plum- 

 age I found my stranger faithfully portrayed. 



I had never seen a ruddy turnstone before with- 

 out more or less of those conspicuous, highly 

 distinctive, irregularly disposed reddish patches 

 which give the wearer so odd, almost clownish, 

 an appearance, as they give it also sundry of 

 its popular names, — " calico-back," " checkered 

 snipe," and ''ruddy turnstone." 



I had clean forgotten those bright-colored legs 

 ("red-legged plover" is another of the names it 

 is said to go by), an excusable lapse, I try to per- 

 suade myself, since I had seen only two such 

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