DEC 7 ^323 
I c>1, 
Familiar Birds of Southern 
California. 
BY ELIZABETH AND JOSEPH GRINNELL. 
THE MOCKING BIRD. 
cities of Southern California are set in 
“peaceful woods.” Numerous varieties of 
^ trees and shrubs and vines cluster about the 
homes of rich and lowly, making ideal haunts for 
the singing birds. And yet it is common to hear 
strangers remark on the “ scarcity of birds.” There 
are plenty of them in plain sight if one has cultivated 
the art of seeing them. A noted humorist has “ ob¬ 
served that two classes of individuals visit our Land of 
Paradise. One class looks at things, the other class sees 
things.” One may be looking at birds and never see 
them, for lack of a trained eye, the same as he would 
miss seeing other features of a landscape. Our birds are 
not gaudy, many of them resembling the appearance of 
their haunts in color. King of them all, by birth and 
common consent, is the mocking bird. He is a born aris¬ 
tocrat from the crown of his graceful head to the tip of 
his dainty foot. He morever acts in the capacity of police¬ 
man, giving the signal of approach of danger, whistling a 
shrill warning understood perfectly by his fellow citizens. One 
easily recognizes this note. He is seldom seen farther north 
than Santa Barbara county, and is at his best in and near our 
orange groves And he is with us the whole year, flitting soul 
of the trees and shrubs, embodied voice of all Nature’s pro¬ 
fusion. But he does not sing the whole year. He “ hangs his 
harp on the willows” or the eucalyptus trees, after nesting 
time, only to bring it forth at the height of the tourist season 
as if to ravish the heart of the stranger. “We stand and listen 
with delight to this grand concert of Nature’s great musician, 
his voice ever changing, ever sweet,” until suddenly, but for 
his form, we have before us a motherless young turkey, or a 
lost chicken. And the famous singer delights in abrupt 
changes “ from grave to gay, from lively to severe,” even the 
very severe, as many a victim can testify when he rushes out 
of his door to rescue what he supposes to be some wounded 
creature, only to be greeted by a saucy mocker from his perch 
on the house cresting. For more than half of the year the 
mocking bird spends his time in listening or studying his 
pieces. He is the best listener in the world. His whole atti¬ 
tude is an animated “hark!” He is literally “ all ears.” 
Then, when he does begin to sing, he never quits unless for 
his meals. He is not afraid of the “night air,” nor does he 
pay the least respect to the desires of those who would sleep. 
