Identifier: abirdingonbronco00bail (find matches)
Title: A-birding on a bronco
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Bailey, Florence Augusta (Merriam), 1863-
Subjects: Birds Birds
Publisher: Boston, New York, Houghton, Mifflin
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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ost of us are more or lesstricked by the high-sounding titles of the mighty.Even plain-thinking observers come under thesame curse of Adam, and, like the snobs who turnscornfully from Mr. Jones to hang upon the wordsof Lord Higginbottom, will pass by a plain brownchijrpie to study with enthusiasm the ways of aphainopeplaf Sometimes, however, in ornithol-ogy as in the world, a name does cover morethan its letters, and we are duped into makingsome interesting discoveries as well as learningsome of the important lessons in life. In the caseof the phainopepla, no hopes that could be raisedby his cognomen would equal the rare pleasureafforded by a study of his unusual ways. On my first visit to Twin Oaks I caught butbrief glimpses of this distinguished bird. Some-times for a moment he lit on a bare limb andI had a chance to admire his high black crestand glossy blue-black coat, which with one moretouch of color would become iridescent. He wasso slenderly formed, and his shining coat was so
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THE PHAINOPEPLAS ON THE PEPPER-TREE A RARE BIRD. 195 smooth and trim, he made me think of a bird ofglass perched on a tree. But while I gazed athim he would launch into the air and wing hisway high over the valley to the hillsides beyond,leaving me to marvel at the white disks on hiswings, hidden when perching, but in air makinghim suggest a black ship with white sails. His appearance was so elegant and his ways sounusual that I went back East regretting I hadnot given more time to a bird who was so indi-vidual, and resolved that if I ever returned toCalifornia my first pleasure should be to studyhim. When the time finally came, an ornithol-ogist friend who knew my plans wrote, exclaim-ing, Do study the phainopeplas! and addedthat she felt like making a journey to Californiato see that one bird. From the middle of March till the middle ofMay I watched and waited for the phainopeplas.There had been only a few of the birds before,and I began to fear they had left the valley.When despair

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