The Western Red-tailed Hawk 



canyon back of the old Carter ranch 

 is fairly stupendous. It is as though 

 the ocean, at the word of some mystic 

 command, had suddenly receded 

 from a terrific tide-gut with its en- 

 tourage of roaring reefs. There, are 

 rounded bosses where the Plesio- 

 saurus played; here, gloomy caverns 

 which the urancient Kraken has only 

 just made vacant; here, swirls in 

 stones and crests of ripping reefs, 

 which served as giant models for the 

 dorsal scales of Stegosaurus. We 

 came upon it after sunset, my son 

 and I, and the glory of it smote us 

 like a vision of Neptune with his 

 bearded hosts. Surely we had 

 stumbled upon a bit of the elder 

 world, reserved by sorcery from the 

 accustomed gaze of man. With 

 bated breath we gazed, until we 

 plucked at our flesh to see if we, too, 

 were turned to stone. And as we 

 gazed, a Redtail, lifting silently from 

 an unseen ledge, winged across the 

 chasm with such confident modernity 

 that the spell broke in laughter. 

 A "Burke's Peerage" of the birds might not mention the Buteos under 

 the head of royalty — Falco and Aquila are the autocrats pa?- excellence — 

 but Redtail's patent of nobility is very ancient, and is based upon the 

 same claims as those which human lords have set up: viz., a predatory 

 ancestry, unbroken possession of certain broad acres for many centuries, 

 and a frowning castle upon some sightly hill. In this last respect the bird 

 is not surpassed, in the Pacific States at least, by that arrogant old Haps- 

 burg, the Prairie Falcon himself. 



As to the broad acres, chiefly game preserves (to carry out the 

 whimsy), the royal claim comes first (because, forsooth, the Falcon is the 

 swifter bird) ; and there is always a horde of retainers — Sparrow Hawks, 

 Burrowing Owls, Magpies, and Ravens — to consider, before the overlord 

 may count his yearly rental of ground-squirrels, rabbits, mice, snakes, 

 lizards, and the lesser fry. Moreover, in these evil days, the pirate Danes 

 have swept down on the Redtail's coasts, have torn his acres with the plow 



1676 



Taken in Imperial County 



THE "DECORATION" 



Photo bx the Author 

 AN AUDUBONNET 



WAS PROMPTLY RETURNED TO ITS MUMMIE 



