162 THE CONDOR Vol. XXI ?wimming off disappeared down a tule lane, calling loudly as if, hidden in their mazes, he was sure of finding the mother who would care for all' his wants. The next time I passed the Coot Gateway, I was hurrying by absent-mind- edly and surprised four small Redheads standing on the platform. Was ?ny little friend among them, happily reunited to his family? The mother ?nust have been sitting down resting, for she jumped up and vanished, the four young also disappearing by magic. After that piece of consummate carelessness, creep in'as noiselessly as I might, it Was all in vain. I had lost a rare oppor- tunity. One pretty sight near the Gateway, though quite aside the mar. k, was a long row of young dragon flies on a telephone wire. I often stopped at the Gateway on my way back and forth to our mail box which the crippled carrier, on the return curve of his thirty mile route, passed at intervals varying widely with roads and weather. Coming in sight far up the sccond angle of the road, following section lines between grain fields, the head of his old white horse could be watched till it reached the box, and then watched disappearing down the highway--a highway that seemed merely an incident, winding down between endless fields of ripening grain. Befor. e the harvest, the fields that had changed from green to gold under my eyes, soft- ened to pale straw color that, as the landscape stretched away, went well with the creamy horizon cloudlets. In one long interval of waiting, When resting in a recess in the wheat with camp stool for pillow, I watched the silky long- bearded wheat softly blowing across the sky till the blue seemed a wondrous blue and the prairie clouds seeme'd to gather protectingly close. (To be coatinued) A SHORT PAPER ON THE HUTTON VIREO By CLARK C. VAN FLEET ITHIN the last two years I have made the acquaintance of a new friend among the birds, namely, the Hutton Vireo (Vireo hutloni huttoni), to me one of the most interesting of our California songsters. This is a common enough bird in Sonoma County, but one that must be searched for and his acquaintance sought, in order to know him well. His is a quiet, unob- strusive nature, and his olive green coat blends so well with his surroundings that many individuals might be passed, in good territory, by an unobservant person, before gaining a glimpse of one. The Hutton Vireo is not a bird likely to draw attention to himself. There is. no fluttering of wings or hasty glances hire and there for food, such as dis- tinguishes the Kinglet; no hammering or pounding and ga? chattering or scold- ing, in the manner of the Plain Titmouse. His sober mantle of olive green is not less subdued than his movement from branch to branch, and tree to tree, his quiet peering under leaves and bark scales, where he takes toll of the teem- ing insect life. Occasionally a large insect will fall his prey; he will then stop and diligently snip off the wings and legs before attempting to swallow it. Rarely, he will dive forth from the protection of the trees at a passing insect,
