226 
SUNSET MAGAZINE 
not grudge my visitors. They spring 
up and catch the tip of a drooping twig 
and bear it to the ground with their 
weight where they hold it with one foot 
while they strip the red berries from 
"4 
A couple, of zuaxwings * * * were picked up 
unconscious * * * During convalescence 
they fell in love with their nurse 
the glistening white core. Then they 
visit the persimmons. 
The robins meanwhile are bathing in 
the fountain created by the drip of a 
leaky hydrant, or hunting angleworms 
in the plowed soil, or catching beetle 
grubs which I toss them. By hook or 
crook I manage to lay hands on a robin 
on purpose to get his picture. He ob¬ 
jects to being photographed, squealing 
something about the California state law 
as to caricatures; but here he is looking 
resentful. He will not sit nor stand 
and so his feet are concealed in the 
captor’s hand. He will resume his joy¬ 
ous expression of countenance when once 
I have opened my hand. Ah, the pleas¬ 
ure of releasing song and glory, and be¬ 
holding it flit to the pinnacle of an orange 
tree to pour out its thanks in the rhythm 
of its own tongue! How immeasurably 
better than to pick up a dead bird at 
one’s feet and drop it limp and songless 
into a red-lined bag! The red of the 
lining may not be uniform, but in spots 
only that have the suggestion of blood 
drops. 
Birds often meet with accidents in 
travel, and when picked up by our emer¬ 
gency ambulance which runs on two feet 
in place of four wheels, are given a 
free bed in our hospital with a trained 
nurse in attendance. A couple of wax- 
wings, intoxicated with their own glee, 
flew against a telephone wire. They 
were picked up “unconscious from con¬ 
cussion of the brain,” but gradually re¬ 
covered. During convalescence they fell 
in love, quite naturally, with their young 
nurse, evincing a human devotion toward 
her. In the picture one is preening 
itself upon her head, while the other 
rests on her hand. The day after they 
were photographed they joined their 
mates in the pepper trees and took an 
optimistic view of the world. 
So let old Boreas blow his cold fingers 
A CALIFORNIA WAXWING 
in the far mountains, and the cataracts 
freeze their malice in the teeth of the 
north wind while the robins and wax- 
wings join the tourist’s trail to Cali¬ 
fornia. 
