THE OSPREY. 25 



these forward creatures. Finally we reach a rough wooden Inidge and before 

 us a thick maze of oaks, laurel, luadrone and nianzanita, the trees of a foot- 

 hill forest. Below, tumbling over its rocky bed and fringed along its mossy 

 banks with slender ferns and bright flowers, is the clearest little brook in 

 the country, while all about us are the various birds of a Calif(jrnia wood- 

 land, the hammering Flicker, the keen-eyed Sparrow Hawk, the blinking 

 Bui'rowing Owl, the elegant California Partridge, the mournful Dove, the 

 somber California Towhee, the quiet Titmouse, the tiny Bush-tit — I stop for 

 want of space. 



May 1, 1898, was a very profitable day, oologically considered. Scarcely 

 had I left the above bridge when 1 perceived a nest of the Meadowlark (Stnr- 

 nella magna neglecta), among the grass on the hillside, containing five very 

 finely dotted eggs; a few rods, and the mossy nest of a California Jay {Aj)/iel- 

 ocoina culifornlca') in an oak yielded the same complement. Half a mile 

 further and the loud cries of a pair of Western Red-tails, {Buteo hortaiis 

 calurm) hovering over the can5n, indicative of a nest claimed my attention. 

 Some time elapsed before I located it in an almost limbless oak on the hill- 

 top, 50 feet above the ground, and when I clambered up and peered over the 

 brim of the huge stick-nest, I saw three lightly marked, well incubated eggs 

 to reward my eflforts. A ready tape showed it to be 34 inches across, while 

 the cavity was 17 by 5 inches. A nearby oak-stump donated seven eggs 

 of the Red-shafted Flicker {Colapfes cafer') and, as I was about to climb 

 the dilapidated fence which separates Casey's land from his neighbor's, I met 

 one of those great, strange birds, the Horned Owl on her nest in an oak. She 

 rose and disappeared, disclosing one almost full-fledged juvenile and an addled 

 egg. On my return, finding this young one on the ground, I decided to carry 

 him to the city. His owl-ship thrived well on raw meat and he became quite 

 tame, but, being compelled to leave him, by an unavoidable absence from town, 

 I entrusted him to a friend and — suflScient said? 



We trudged over one range of hills and down another and on until there 

 lay below us, deep and still, placid Lake San Andreas, an artificial body of 

 water which supplies San Francisco. The water is by no means clear and 

 would scarcely tempt even a thirsty person. This lake marks the boundary of 

 foothill and mountains. Sturdy oaks grace the grassy slopes on one side while 

 opposite rise the monarchs of all forests, the redwoods, in whose dark depths 

 dwell that select society of birds, shy of approach and difficult of acquaintance. 

 If you would know them do not rudely crash through the brush or, in a noisy 

 cart, follow the roads, but seek some small timber-bound woodland lake or 

 watering place, there linger but not intrude; soon the merry Point Pinos 

 Junco a brilliant combination of brown and white, the Crested Jay, the showy 

 mountain Partridge and others will come to partake of a natural sparkling 



