42 



THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



The California bird slunk awa}' among 

 the brambles with his family, and the 

 foreigner flew up on a low limb and pro- 

 claimed his victory by short, shart chirps, 

 very unlike the notes of our Quail ; it 

 sounded like the twang of a resinous string. 

 He was either so tame or puffed up with 

 pride that he refused to move away until I 

 had approached within ten feet of him. I 

 have had some of these birds in captivity 

 and have found them most restless and 

 excitable, while in freedom the}- appear 

 much tamer than our Quail. 



Alameda, Cal. D. A, Cohen. 

 ♦ •« 



GRINNELL'S WATER THRUSH. 



BV WIVI. L. KEIvLS. 



This species — so called from the person 

 who first brought to the notice of ornithol- 

 ogists the fact that it made its haunts and 

 home in the wild mountain glens and deep 

 woods of the Pacific coast — differs but little, 

 either in form, plumage, or general habits, 

 from the other species of this genus found 

 in the more eastern parts of the North 

 American continent. In the deep, wild 

 woods and mountain dells of British Col- 

 umbia, it may be a more common summer 

 resident than is now supposed; for from 

 the almost impenetrable nature of the for- 

 ests of this region, the timid and retiring 

 disposition of the bird itself, and the fact 

 that so few have as yet given any attention 

 to the avifauna of this land of extreme con- 

 trasts, it has been but seldom noticed, and 

 that in a few isolated localities. 



And until more attention is given to 

 identify each species of the woodland birds 

 by their notes, especially their songs, rather 

 than by an examination of specimens, 

 many species which are actually common 

 will escape the notice of even expert or- 

 nithologists; and this, I believe, is the case 

 with t/ns sj^ecies, judging by my experience 

 with the Water Wagtail of Ontario, and 

 my knowledge of the abundant existence 

 of such places in this land of the evening 

 sunshine, as are similar to those that are 



the favorite haunts of its congener in the 

 regions nearer to the morning dawn. 



One daj' — it was the 12th of May — I 

 found myself in a somewhat romantic spot, 

 and with open eyes and listening ears, 

 viewing and noting the varied sights and 

 sounds, the flora and avifauna, by which 

 my surroundings were affected. My stand- 

 point was a plank bridge of rather primi- 

 tive construction , spanning a narrow gully, 

 in the bottom of which meandered a stream 

 of water, whose murmurings, as it rippled 

 over and among the stones, in its rapid 

 descent from its source deep in the woods 

 down towards the Fraser, could be heard 

 to a considerable distance; though from 

 beneath the dense foliage and overhanging 

 branches, whence it came and departed, the 

 stream itself was visible but a few rods from 

 either end of the bridge. 



The surrounding forest, except where 

 the roadway was forced through it, was 

 still in its primitive and unbroken wildness, 

 and now in full leaf, intermingled in its 

 lower parts the flowers of the dogwood and 

 other blossoming plants. But little evi- 

 dence of faunian life, except that presented 

 by the avifaiinian tribes, was observed. 

 Occasionally the prolonged cherr of a species 

 of squirrel fell upon the ear, or the aimless 

 flutterings of a gaudy butterfly impressed 

 the eye; but bird life was tolerably abun- 

 dant, as was evident from their varied 

 notes, though few of their forms came in 

 sight. Two species of Nuthatches affected 

 the vicinity; the Slender-billed variety was 

 here the most abundant, but from neither 

 its notes, its form, nor its plumage could 

 it, at a short distance, be distinguished 

 from its cousin, the White-breasted Nut- 

 hatch of Ontario. 



High up in the firtops screamed the Jays, 

 and rollicked the Red-shafted Flickers and 

 Pileated Woodpeckers. Specimens of the 

 Hairy, and what 1 took to be Harris' Wood- 

 pecker, were also noted. Wafted on the 

 genial air came from a lower standpoint the 

 plaintive melody of the Western Tanager 

 and a species of Grosbeak, while lower 



