A BIRD-GAZER AT THE CANON 



The race of juncos is highly variable in this 

 Western country (eleven species and subspecies), 

 and there were several nice points demanding 

 attention. Luckily the birds could always be 

 found with a little searching ; and the oftener 

 they were seen, the prettier they looked, espe- 

 cially the lighter-colored one, the gray-headed 

 junco, as ornithologists name it. After all, thought 

 the bird-gazer, the Quaker taste in colors is not 

 half so bad as it might be. But it was wonderful 

 how much that little patch of black (a clever 

 beauty-spot, such as he seemed to remember 

 having seen ladies wear) heightened and set off 

 the bird's general appearance. He greatly en- 

 joyed the sight of both species, as they fed in 

 the road or under the sage-brush bushes, snapping 

 their tails open nervously at short intervals (as 

 fine ladies do their fans), just like their Eastern 

 relatives. 



"Yes, yes," he said, with a sense of relief; "I 

 may be a little slow with canons, but I do not 

 need a week or two in which to appreciate the 

 beauty of a snowbird. This is something within 

 my capacity." 



It is no small part of the comfort and success 

 of life to recognize one's limitations and be re- 

 conciled to them. 



This first ramble, which did not extend far, 

 209 



