6 
THE CONDOR 
1 Vol. IV 
the dark Kunzia, both heino; singularly attractive plants despite their rather plain 
appearance. The Kunzia bushes are favorite congregating places for all species. 
The foliage has a subtle sweet odor that seems agreeable alike to bird and beast. 
The broad meadows and adjacent 
sandy brush land about Farrington’s 
were the favorite hunting ground of 
a large number of hawks — individ- 
uals rather than species. I came to 
know one marsh hawk very well as 
it was continually scouring the fields 
for meadow mice which were very 
common, and since the hay had been 
cut, were segregated more or less in 
the little patches of uncut grass. 
This hawk began work soon after 
daylight and continued its flights 
with owl-like precision till late twi- 
light. I arrived just after the hay 
makers had finished their work and 
was glad to see how enthusiastically 
the birds entered the fields. Every 
morning saw small droves of black- 
billed magpies catchinggrasshoppers, 
and their keenest rivals at this re- 
lentless warfare were the sparrow 
hawks. Usually the magpies held 
forth on the lower slopes of the pin- 
yon hill, where they engaged in 
endless squabbles from daylight till dark, the echoes of their profanity 
reaching me at the ranch house where I must need spend much good time in 
preparing specimens. So well 
did these two species do their 
work that by the end of toe 
week neaUy all the grassiiop- 
pers had disappeared from the 
meadows. It proved a very en- 
tertaining sight when the mag- 
pies chased the grasshoppers as 
they occasionally would do, for 
their agility in dodging and cir- 
cling proved how mistaken we 
are likely to be in forming an es- 
timate of a bird under ordinary 
conditions. Usually nonchalant 
and absurdly dignified in their 
demeanor, these birds could at 
times assume the utmost inter- 
est in their occupation, and dart 
with surprising speed here and 
there. They used their tail 
about as much as their wings when flying. 
Nearly every bush had its group of Brewer sparrows, plain-colored, mild little 
PHOTO BY W K FISHER 
PINUS MONOPHYLLA, AND SIDE OF NUT-PINE HILL, NEAR 
FARRINGTON S RANCH. 
