Page:Condor4(1).djvu/5

6 THE CONDOR I Vol. IV the dark Kunzia, both being singularly attractive plants despite their rather plain appearance. The Kunzia bushes are favorite congregating places for all species. The foliage has a subtle sweet odor that se?ms agreeable alike to bird and beast. The broad meadows and adjacent sandy brush land about. Farrington's were the favorite hunting ground of a large number of hawks?individ- uals rather than species2 I came to know one marsh hawk very well as it was continually scouring the fields for meadow mice which were very common, and since the hay had been cut, were segregated more or less in the little patches of uncut grass. This hawk began work goon after daylight and continued its flights with owl-like precision till late twi- light. I arrived just after the hay makers had finished their work and was glad to see how enthusiastically the birds entered the fields. Every morning saw small droves of black- billed magpies catching grasshoppers, and their keenest rivals at this re- lentless warfare were the sparrow hawks. Usually the magpies held forth on the lower slopes of the pin- yon hill, where they engaged in endless squabbles from daylight till dark. the echoes of their profanity reaching me at the ranch house where I must need spend much good time in preparing specimens. So well did these two species do their work that by the end of the week nearly all the grasshop- pers had disappeared from the meadows. It proved a very en- tertaining sight when the mag- pies chased the grasshoppers as they occasionally would do, for their agility in dodging and cir- cling proved how mistaken we are li-kely to be in forming an es- timate of a bird under ordinary conditions. Usually nonchalant and absurdly dignified in their demeanor, these birds could at times assume the utmost inter- est in their occupation, and dart with surprising speed here and there. They used their tail PINYON dAY about as much as their wings when flying. Nearly every bush had its group of Brewer sparrows, plain-colored, mild little