278 
and vines for no reason at all, as far as any- 
one could see. At other times, especially 
early in the morning, and again late in the 
afternoon, when his mate would be sitting 
on the nest down among the chilacote 
vines, he would mount to the topmost limb 
of the live oak of the copse and pour forth 
his soul in song. True, it was not a great 
song, such as his relative, the mocking 
bird, sings day and night in that land; nor 
was it so fine as another relative, the brown 
thrasher of the East, often sings on similar 
occasions; nor was it ever so sweet as a 
more distant relation, the catbird, favors 
us with when he has discovered the poetry 
of everyday life. For old Sicklebill is a 
modest bird and rarely sings for the public; 
his hope is that she who sits among the 
chilacote vines may hear his song and be 
pleased. 
He never molested the brown towhee. 
Each seemed to understand the other per- 
fectly, and each respected the other's 
rights. They talked to each other a bit 
now and then, but so sedately that one 
could never guess what they really said. 
Very different it is with the California jay, 
who is a Frenchman, kis motions most 
profuse and quite as expressive as his | 
words. If he could not jerk his tail, nod 
his head and shrug his shoulders, he might 
not be able to talk at all. 
But Modesty Itself and old Sicklebill 
paid little attention to him, and the jay had 
no influence in the community; in which 
respect he is not unlike other people who 
talk more than they should. P 
Modesty Itself never wandered far from 
the copse in which she had her nest. Two 
or 3 times every day she would go to the 
pool in the usually dry bed of Santa Paula 
creek, for even towhees will take some 
chances in order to get water to drink; but 
it was only a few rods away and the danger 
was not great. She and her mate had their 
regular hunting grounds, all within a few 
yards of the copse. They usually went over 
the entire area every day, turning over the 
sticks and leaves and scratching in the dirt 
each day just as if they had never hunted 
in that region before. They would search 
every nook and corner of the copse, then 
they would examine with equal care the 
more open spaces where the peonies and 
burr clover grow in early spring, and in the 
evening they might be seen playing in the 
dust of the public road which ran near. 
Often while taking their dust bath they 
would be disturbed by some passer-by, when, 
with a quick flirt of the tail they would 
fly hurriedly into the deepest recesses of 
the copse, where they would remain until 
all danger was past . They soon came to 
know their friends. One who passed every 
day and often stopped to observe their ways 
never treated them ill, and they felt that 
RECREATION, 
no harm could come from being sociable 
with ‘him; so they came near when he 
tarried long and told him things which he 
was glad to know. 
But there were those who passed by on 
the road who never failed to give the birds 
a scare. Some were boys who would throw 
stones or sticks at them, or frighten them 
with noises which they could never under- 
stand; but nature has a way of caring for 
her own, and our brown towhees were 
usually under cover before these passers 
got a glimpse of them. The plain modest 
brown of their simple dress blended so ad- 
‘mirably with the color of the ground. and 
dead leaves that it was not easy to see that 
any bird was there. Then they were quiet 
birds, moving but little and slowly, which 
assisted in obscuring them. 
Thus the spring passed. When after a 
little, the eggs had been hatched and 5 lusty 
young had to be fed, the question of food 
supply became a serious one. The old birds 
were kept busy and had to go farther from 
the copse than they had gone before; for 
small grubs, worms and insect larve that 
were soft enough and not too large for 
the young birds were not so common that 
they could be found anywhere. Both 
old birds never left the copse at the same 
time. If Modesty Itself went to search for 
special food among the leaves and sticks 
down by the irrigating ditch, her mate al- 
ways remained within calling distance of the 
little ones. 
The young birds grew rapidly. When 
the mother brought them food all were 
eager to seize it, stretching their necks 
and opening their mouths in a way that 
was not at all polite, modesty not being a 
trait of young birds of any kind; but they 
fared well, and long before the end of 
June all were lusty and brave. So large 
had they grown that the nest could no 
longer hold them all, and the larger, 
stronger ones, not enjoying a crowded 
home, began to crawl up on the border of 
the nest, where it was so nice and cool. At 
first they found it no easy matter to balance 
themselves; but soon they were able to 
stand with their pale little legs straight 
and their heads held up jauntily. Then they 
would stretch their legs and necks and try 
their wings, and gradually many sets of 
tiny muscles came to work together as they 
should. Soon the birds began to venture 
cautiously out on the limbs, and proud lit- 
tle birds they were when able to balance 
on so slender a support. If the young 
birds seemed over timid the mother would 
encourage them by moving out slowly on 
the limb. Then she would coax them to 
try their little wings by taking short flights 
herself from branch to branch. This 
seemed, to their inexperience, a daring 
