. Bird notes afield; essays on the birds of the Pacific coast with a field check list . n between the hills to the sea, which may be seen fromthe outer corridors of the mission as a little strip of blue in agap of the hills. The willows are a favorite resort of the West-ern Maryland yellowthroat, a beautiful little warbler whichwinters there. Its back is clear olive-green, changing to gray-ish on the head, its under parts are a beautiful pure yellow,most brilliant on the throat and under tail-coverts, while a largeblack mask covers the sides of the face, extending through theeye to the base of
. Bird notes afield; essays on the birds of the Pacific coast with a field check list . n between the hills to the sea, which may be seen fromthe outer corridors of the mission as a little strip of blue in agap of the hills. The willows are a favorite resort of the West-ern Maryland yellowthroat, a beautiful little warbler whichwinters there. Its back is clear olive-green, changing to gray-ish on the head, its under parts are a beautiful pure yellow,most brilliant on the throat and under tail-coverts, while a largeblack mask covers the sides of the face, extending through theeye to the base of the bill, and surmounted by a narrow line ofwhite. TliC yellowthroat always impresses me as such a neat,trim, genteel creature, and I am very fond of its light, daintymanners. As it flits about among the willows it repeatedlyutters its call-note, a quick check, check, low and unobtrusive,but emphatic. It is a quick, alert little fellow, constantly busysearching for insects about the willows or pools of water, deftlypicking them from the leaves or from the scum upon some stag- [128]. IN A MISSION PATIO nant pool, sometimes even wading into a shallow basin in itssearch, and then suddenly flitting into the air after a gnat whichthe bright eyes had espied. The arroyo is, of course, the haunt of the belted kingfisher,a happy fellow who gives life and color to any landscape hemay favor with his presence. He is such a hearty, enthusiasticcreature, with his loud call, his vigorous flight above the stream,and now and then his splash into the water after a fish. Wherethe arroyo widens into a swampy patch the red-winged black-birds congregate in vast numbers, and their melodious clatterfills the air with a sort of joyous stir. They are among theshowiest of our birds with their glossy black plumage and bril-liant scarlet shoulder patches. I fancy that even the devoutFather Serra, with mind intent upon the baptism of more In-dian babies, must have looked up now and then as he passeda swamp
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Keywords: ., bookauthorkeel, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds
