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LAND OF SUNSHINE. 
call them by name, and be 
able to give them such hos¬ 
pitality as we may. They 
are “people,” all of them, 
with tastes and preferences, 
and even critical tendencies. 
Of our many tourist birds 
the robin is dearest to every 
heart. “ Ho, you have the 
robin here !” is the frequent 
exclamation of many a 
stranger on whose sandals, 
or patent leathers, our dust 
is clinging in a first em¬ 
brace. Yes, we have the 
robin here, but as a visitor 
only. He is a great traveler. 
Every returning year sees 
him staying with us a little 
later, and we hope some day 
to find the familiar nest of 
mud and sticks in the forks 
of our live-oaks and mottled 
sycamores. But alas, this 
hope may be in vain, for we 
are cementing our reservoirs 
and no mud exists on their 
dry banks. Should we see 
to the matter of leaving a little pool in the back end of the lot 
in the adobe berry-patch, these red-breasts might take the hint. 
They leave us with reluctance, and last year a few old bache¬ 
lors remained with us all summer, a trifle out of sorts, we 
fancied, with their condition. There is no need of describing 
the robin ; after long effort we succeeded in photographing him. 
His dear picture is in every heart. He is also in the heart of 
the sharp-shinned hawk. We shot one of these little despe¬ 
radoes the other day just as its talons buried themselves in the 
breast of the sweetest robin in the garden. And so the hawk, 
scarcely larger than its prey, was deprived of its sweet morsel. 
These hawks are said to be so fond of the robins that they follow 
them about. 
Usually (and especially in a wet winter) the robins and the 
wax-wings (cedar bird) appear together. It is they who 
strip our pepper trees of their pendant pearls, swallowing the 
berries whole, with a good deal of flattering comment, as if 
they were making poetry, like the tourist preachers and other 
folk. They disgorge the hard seeds of the center at random, 
and with ceaseless rapidity. One can hear the patter of the 
C. M. Davis Kng. Co. 
WAX-WING—FROM LIFK. 
