PHAINOPEPLA. 89 
beautiful pickeringias, and a host of other fine shrubs and plants, different evergreen 
oaks, and other large forest trees, give us an idea of the variety and beauty of Califor- 
nian forest scenery. ‘These are only a few names of the most characteristic plants of 
California. Almost none of them thrive in eastern and northern gardens and parks, not- 
withstanding the care bestowed upon them. The climate of California is so peculiarly 
mild and fine that tropical araucarias', pepper trees”, Australian acacias, eucalyptus, 
and many palms, grow to perfection in the open air, even near San Francisco. 
The animals likewise vary widely. Particularly is this the. case with the birds. 
Here we find a number of Hummingbirds, Finches and Warblers, which are never 
seen east of the Rocky Mountains. A very characteristic bird of California, and 
adjacent States and Territories, is the PHaINOPEPLA, or BLacK FiycaTcHER. This 
beautiful crested shining-black songster, with a large white spot on each wing which 
can be seen plainly only when the bird is flying, does not belong to the Thrush family ; 
its closest relationship is with the Waxwings. 
As already suggested, the Phainopepla is not confined to California. It is found 
in the arid regions of Mexico and contiguous portions of the United States, from western 
Texas to southern California, north to southern Nevada, and probably portions of 
Utah and Colorado. In the Santa Clara Valley near Santa Paula, Cal., in the Yosemite 
Valley, and in many parts of Arizona, it seems to be a rather common bird. 
No one of our ornithologists has written so fascinatingly and in such a beautiful 
language about many of the western birds, as Dr. Elliott Coues. His life histories of 
many birds are incomparable models of beauty, full of feeling and poetry. 
“While roaming about in Arizona,” he says, “sometimes hunting for birds and 
sometimes for Indians, I used at intervals to see a bird that I did not then know, and 
that I came to regard at last as great ‘medicine,’ so persistently did it elude me—now 
I could not get a shot at the shy thing—now a fair shot offered, but we had orders 
not to shoot for fear of discovery. It was a beautiful jet-black creature, showing a pair 
of white disks, one on each side, when it flew; generally seen amidst dense chaparral, 
dashing about with a nervous yet lightsome flight, reminding one of the action of a 
Mockingbird; now for a moment balancing with expanding wings and tail on some 
prominent spray, then darting into the air to secure a passing insect, or hurrying out 
of sight in the safe recesses of the covert. A rather harsh and querulous note, which I 
learned to associate with this wild and restless bird, was sometimes heard; and once I 
listened to a superb piece of music which I am perfectly sure came from this mysterious 
stranger. It was growing dusk: the scene, the camp of a scouting-party returning from 
‘unsuccessful pursuit of some Indians who had raided and run off our beef, and men busy 
gathering for burial the charred and dismembered body of a comrade who had been 
killed’ and burned a few days before on that very spot, where the wolves had afterward 
fought for the remains. The bird of omen, for good or bad, appeared in sombre cere. 
ments, and sang such a requiem as touched every heart; the camp grew more quiet 
than usual, and we went to bed early.—This was the last time I ever saw or heard 
this remarkable bird, which was a rather uncommon summer resident in the immediate 
vicinity of Fort Whipple, though abundant a little lower down and farther south.” 
1 Araucaria excelsa. +% Schinus molle. 
12 
