THE DAMN-BIRD. 
93 
fer oranges to any other fruit, provided only they can get at 
the heart of them. There are culls enough dumped into the 
places where “ No dump” is observed written on a board and 
nailed to a lot post, to supply all the linnets in the country, 
could the fruit be cut in halves. Let the small boy be taught 
to lean his air-gun up against his resolution to kill nothing he 
can by any possibility “get any fun out of,” and set him at 
halving the cull oranges. In a day’s time he, and the linnets, 
and the arroyo banks, would be in high glee, and the rancher 
would have the satisfaction of being left alone with his peach 
crop. 
There were the loquats ! Even to these, oranges were pre- 
c M.uavis hng.to A PAIR OF LINNETS. 
ferred, laid on shakes about as high as the fruit, and atja 
respectable distance. 
As for the logan berries, hanging in individual beauty from 
not overladen stems, there is no trouble. What a few widths 
of damaged mosquito netting costs is trivial. Besides, we ex¬ 
pect to divide everything we raise with the birds. They were 
here before we came, and welcomed us to Southern California 
as heartily as ever a party of tourists was welcomed by unfeath¬ 
ered residents with their hands full of waste geranium cuttings 
thrown in at car windows. In fact the linnets were the only 
birds about the place when we came and took up our initiative 
residence in the newly-built stable, after the fashion of senators 
and editors of fifteen years ago, biding their time “for the house 
to be built.” Now, there are at least fifteen varieties of birds 
