?,rolum e ?r May-June, Ic)O? Number Two Vireos Caught with a Camera. BY WILLIAM L. FINLEY. ILLUSTRATED BY HERMAN T. BOHLMAN. N the springtime the needle of our nature turns to the green fields and wooded hills. This is a season of joy and fascination more to the lover of birds, perhaps, than to any one else. Each day heralds the arrival of some old acquaintance, and each year one listens with deeper enthusiasm to the glad love songs of his feathered friends. Oregon is an ideal place for the naturalist. The great tracts of wooded region extending along the numerous rivers and over the mountains furnish innumerable retreats for the birds. Feathered creatures may seem rather scarce to the casual observer and it may take a little longer to acquire their acquaintance, but once you have discovered their favorite haunts you are never disappointed. June is the favored month of the birds and flowers in this northern climate. Fields are yellow and white with buttercups and daisies. The syringa is just be- ginning to blossom on the hillside, the wild currant is drooping with pink clusters of bloom, and black-berry vines are covered with white masses of flowers. Along the sides of every little stream, hurrying down through the canyons, are banks of moss and ferns. Bird voices resound from all directions during this season of song. At the first dawn of the morning's light we are awakened by the rollicking carols of the grosbeak, robin and tanager. The full rich tone of the meadowlark makes every field resound. The cheery twittering of the violet-green swallow is heard continually as he skims by with grace and ease, and, circling overhead pauses on some wire. The ringing notes of the bullock oriole are scattered down- ward from the top of some poplar or maple. The dreary call of the wood-pewee, the warbling of the vireo, and the sweet chant of the purple finch are heard among
