SOME ROCK-HAUNTING BIRDS 



WHICH do we enjoy most, the good things 

 we have long sought and at last have 

 found, or those that fall in our way as surprises ? 

 For myself, I do not know, nor do I think it 

 greatly matters. If the good things will only come, 

 say I, let them come in whichever way they will ; 

 and, if they are kind enough to come in both 

 ways, why, then may I have the grace to be doubly 

 thankful. 



Here in California, certainly, speaking as a bird- 

 lover, I have been blessed in both kinds. Some 

 things I have earned, if I may say so, by diligent 

 inquiry and seeking. Others, equally esteemed, 

 have, as it were, stepped forth to meet me. "Be- 

 hold us," they have said. " You seem not to have 

 been looking for us ; maybe you have never heard 

 of us ; but here we are." 



Pacific Grove, at which I tarried in preference 

 to its older and more famous neighbor, Monterey, 

 is in two capital respects an ideal place for a walk- 

 ing naturalist. It is situated on a peninsula, with 

 the bay shore — a bay as beautiful, especially in 

 the late afternoon, as anything earthly need be 

 — on one side, and the ocean shore on the other; 

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