254 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



crat in olive gray coat brightening to olive green on the 

 rump. The breast is dull white and the sides have barely 

 a tinge of yellow. The loud sweet carol of this humble 

 minstrel is a feature of the bird choir in the Yosemite, 

 yet the singer seems so busy in his quiet way at gleaning 

 the leaves for food that we wonder he can pause to utter 

 his delightful song. 



Despite their plain colors and prosaic manners, we 

 must not overlook the flycatchers, — little fellows with 

 wide snapping beaks, weak feet, and very limited pee wit 

 calls. The commonest species is the Western wood pe- 

 wee, with olive brown back and white under parts, faintly 

 tinged with yellow. 



But we cannot expect to make acquaintance with all 

 the birds of the Sierra wilds at one sitting. Patience 

 and loving kindness are the watchwords for those who 

 would be initiated in nature lore. When next you go 

 to the Yosemite you will find the majestic splendor of 

 Titan clii¥s and crags humanized and brought closer to 

 your heart by meeting there a host of glad-voiced friends, 

 familiar habitants of this wonder-vale, children of the 

 air and the forests, who will sing to you each his own 

 love song — tender, wild, and shy. And above them all 

 you will listen to the evening hymn of the thrush — not 

 the ethereal hermit of the heights, but the russet-backed 

 thrush of the valleys chanting his soulful and wistful 

 melodies as the purple shadows of the cliffs darken across 

 that valley of enchantment. Then as the pale stars 

 brighten and the dark violet sky deepens to the dusk 

 of night, as the last flutter of joyous wings is stilled, you 

 may think of ten thousand mothers fondly brooding over 

 their swinging cradles in the pines as the night wind 

 croons them a lullaby, each with her little lover close 

 beside her, trustfully sleeping in all that wilderness and 

 taking no thought of the fears of the morrow. Ah little 

 mothers of the pines, you and your blessed mates are the 

 world's most eloquent teachers for those who will but 

 go to you and look and listen, for you are forever 

 preaching the eternal gospel of love. 



