The thirty-first of last August she had heard the Chest- 
nut-backed Chickadee call and had stepped to her door, 
where she saw seven of these tiny creatures fluttering in 
and out of the water. As she watched, a small, bright-colored 
bird (which at first she thought was a Lutescent Warbler), 
flew to a broken branch of the log above the water, while 
two others of the same golden hue, but with black crowns, 
later came-out of the foliage, and she had the rare pleasure 
of seeing what she thought was all that was left of the 
family of Golden Pileolated Warblers: the father, the 
mother (without the cap) and one son. Back in the darkest | 
shade she could see another bird, which was trying to hide 
behind some salal leaves, but with her glasses she could tell 
it was a Russet-backed Thrush waiting its turn. She heard a 
rustling in the leaves, and an impatient ‘“me-ay” announced 
that her pair of Oregon Towhees, and their three young, 
were on the way, and last, but not least, came a’ Rusty 
Song Sparrow. 
Taking advantage of every shadow, the Soak Golden 
Warbler dared to join for a second in the splashing of the — 
Chickadees, but it was several minutes before she gave her- 
self a real bath. Then the rest of her family settled beside 
her, but the big Towhees jumped into the tub and all the 
other birds flew to the bushes. In a short time back they 
came and Chickadees, Warblers, and Towhees together made | 
the water fly. The exclusive, reserved Russet-backed 
Thrush watched the frolic in dignified seclusion, occasion- 
ally giving a single, musical whistle “quit,” but not until 
the others had finished did he take his solitary bath. 
Finding that the boys were especially interested in the 
Rusty Song Sparrow, the lady told them that in all the years 
she had furnished food and water for the birds she had 
_ always had several of this species as regular boarders. 
In spite of his small size, he could hold his own with 
birds much larger, and valiantly would he fight for his place | 
at her table. Especially was he pugilistic when he brought 
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