FIELD-DAYS IN CALIFORNIA 



articulate), and know nothing of what evidence 

 or explanation they might be able to adduce in 

 contravention of our disparaging verdict. Of all 

 things, being what we are, let us beware of in- 

 fallibility. It is one of the most insidious of 

 vices, as it is, also, one of the most ill-favored. 

 It makes its home within us all unsuspected, so 

 very cautious we esteem ourselves, the last per- 

 sons in the world to be guilty of anything like 

 presumption or dogmatism ; and then, before we 

 know it, we are delivering guesses for certain- 

 ties, as if we were throned in the Pope's chair 

 and such a thing as error were impossible. No, 

 no ; for our own sakes, if for nobody else's, let 

 us take a lower seat. 



The two scoters are on our beach throughout 

 the year ; yet there is no reason to suppose that 

 they nest within a thousand miles. In other 

 words, all the hundreds or thousands of scoters 

 that summer along the California coast are what 

 our official Check-List describes as " non-breed- 

 ing birds." 



Concerning this lagging or non-migratory habit 

 of theirs, two questions suggest themselves. In 

 the first place, why should not these barren indi- 

 viduals, as we assume them to be, follow the 

 tribal instinct and go north with their fellows in 

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