The Townsend Solitaire 
Taken in Fresno County Ftiolo by the Author 
A TOWNSEND SOLITAIRE 
THE BIRD’S THROAT IS DISTENDED WITH FOOD GATHERED FOR HER CHICKS 
792 
the limb of a pine 
not ten feet away. 
And as I watched, 
the feathers of his 
breast and throat 
rose with a song that 
softly echoed the 
beautiful voices of 
the brook, the gurg¬ 
ling of eddies, the 
silvery tinkle of tiny 
cascades, and the 
deeper medley of 
miniature falls. In¬ 
finitely fine and 
sweet was this ren¬ 
dering of mountain 
music. At times 
the song of the bird 
rose above the 
sound of the water 
in rippling cadences 
—not shrill, but in 
an infinite number 
of runs and modu¬ 
lated trills, dying 
away again and a- 
gain to low plaintive 
whispering notes 
suggestive of tender 
memories.” 
And if the 
author himself ven¬ 
tures to add a little 
to this anthology, 
it is only on the 
first-hand author¬ 
ity of his field note¬ 
book : 
Church Moun¬ 
tain, ( Washington), 
May 12, 1905: 
