88 PHAINOPEPLA. 
sweet notes, of the Song Thrush of Europe. Commend me to the rare bird that sings 
in winter, whose pipe, yet limpid when the rivers cease to flow, it tuned to sounds 
harmonious amid the discord of the elements, in earnest of more genial times to come!” 
The genus Myiadestes consists of about ten or twelve species, only one of which 
occurs within our limits, the others belonging to tropical America. 
NAMES: Townsenp’s SouitaireE, Solitaire, Clarino, Townsend's Ptilogonys, Townsend’s Flycatching Thrush. 
—Klarino, Klarinettvogel (German). 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Ptilogonys townsendi Aud., O. B. (1839). Culcivora townsendi De Kay (1844). 
Myiadestes townsendii Cab. (1847). MYADESTES TOWNSENDII A. O. U. (1886). 
DESCRIPTION: General color bluish-ash or dull brownish-ash, paler beneath. Wings blackish, the inner 
secondaries edged and tipped with white, nearly all the quills extensively tawny or fulvous at the base, 
tertials tipped with white. Tail rather deeply forked. Tail-feathers dark brown; the middle one ashy- 
brown; the lateral with the outer web and tip, the second with the tip only, white. A white ring 
round the eye. Bill and feet black.—Length about 8 inches; wings and tail about 4 to 4.50 inches. 
PreAlNOPEPLA. 
Phainopepla nitens ScLA’. 
PLaTe IV. Fic. 1. 
NC) O STATE of our fair country presents to the naturalist and to the lover cf nature 
WN so many attractions as the State of California. The geologist, the zoologist, 
and the botanist find here the richest treasures. The admirer of the beautiful must be 
enchanted by the many attractions with which all nature is here endowed. The noble- 
mountain landscapes of the Sierras and the Coast Range, the gorgeous, romantic 
valleys and cafions, the beautiful mountain lakes, the numerous clear streams and tor- 
rents rushing down from the rocks, the famous groves of ‘big trees,” the far-famed 
Yosemite Valley—all are majestic, grand, and yet exquisitely beautiful. The flora of 
California is especially rich and fine, quite different from what we see in the East and 
South. The mountains are covered nearly to their summits with different species of 
coniferous trees, beautiful as well as gigantic. In the rich valleys and on the mountain 
meadows, we find the gorgeous Humboldt! and leopard lily?, the white, sweet-scented 
Washington lily*, and the very fragrant lemon lily’. The butterfly tulip® flourishes here, 
too, in great luxuriance and in many varieties. Hill and dale are adorned with a great 
variety of foliage trees. Of the many evergreen shrubs one appears to be more beautiful 
than the other. Behold the manzanitas® and madrojfias’, the California laurel® and the 
photinia’, and other ornamental evergreen shrubs! Near by, we may find different pretty 
species of California lilacs or Ceanothus. The flowers of all of these have a pleasant 
fragrance, and, when in bloom, give a charm to these regions peculiarly attractive to 
the lover of nature. They flourish most abundantly among the openings of oaks, red- 
woods, pines and firs, on the borders of cafions. Lovely garryas and rhododendrons, 
1 Lilium Humboldtii, 2 L. pardalinum. 8 L. Washingtonianum, 4 L. Parryi. 6% Calochortus. 6 Arctostaphylos 
glauca, 7 Arbutus Menziesii, ® Oreodaphne californica. © Photinia arbutifolia, 
