20 
THE CONDOR 
VOL- XT 
Water Ouzel’s sung in unison with the waterfalls is a blending rare of liquid notes. 
The ever far-away song of the Magician Thrush, secluded and solitary, rich in tone 
and clear as a crystal bell, gives an added depth and distance and an air of fascina- 
ting mystery to these great forest canyons, remembered long after, when much else 
is forgotten. 
Our ramble carried us thru the Basin to all four points of the compass, on the 
north to Sempervirens Camp, east to Pine Mountain, south along the Waddell 
and west to the head of 
Berry Creek. Nor did we 
always follow the placarded 
trails but traveled numberless 
miles thru the unbroken wild- 
erness, which was often labor- 
ious and at times somewhat 
dangerous. From the top of 
Pine Mountain, which we 
ascended on June 15th, we 
were afforded a view of the 
entire region. Below the 
peak, running north and 
south, lay the great forest 
lands, the low ranges and 
valleys extending far north 
into San Mateo county, while 
on both sides of the Basin, 
east and west rose higher but 
rocky and barren mountain 
ranges. 
The trip to Berry Creek 
and its many waterfalls was 
taken on June 16th. Altho 
somewhat difficult, owing to 
the thick underbrush and pre- 
cipitous character of the 
country, we secured success- 
ful views of both the upper 
falls, Red Bank and Mossbrae, 
as well as the better known 
Berry Creek Falls, which is 
shown herewith. Here, amid 
the continuous roar of the 
foaming falls and the shifting 
clouds of spray, was ever the 
BERRY CREEK FALLS, BIG BASIN: HOME OF WATER OUZELS, 
WINTER WRENS AND HERMIT THRUSHES 
Copyrighted 
favorite haunt of Water Ouzels. 
Perhaps the most striking feature of the bird life in this region is the great 
difference between the birds within the Basin and those in the more or less de- 
timbered country on its eastern edge. A comparison of species in both sections 
better illustrates this difference. These lists are arranged in order of abundance, 
the commonest species being number one. 
