ings and tail, and sprinkling the
liquid all over their plumage. No; this bird has a reputation to
maintain for originality, and therefore he took his bath in this
manner: First he perched on a telegraph wire by the roadside; then he
swung gracefully down to a little pond, dashed lightly into the water,
giving himself a slight wetting, after which he flew up to his original
perch on the wire. A minute or less was then spent in preening his
plumes; but they were not moist enough to suit his purpose, so he
darted down to the pond again, making the spray rise as lie struck the
water; then up to his perch he swung again, to arrange his feathers;
and this was repeated a number of times, till his toilet was completed.
It would not be safe to risk saying that the scissorstail always takes
his bath in this way; but I know this one did. I once saw a kingbird
doing the same thing, and so it may be a fashion in flycatcher circles.

I am minded, in order to make this monograph more complete, to borrow a
couple of paragraphs from Mrs. Bailey's "Handbook of Birds of the
Western United States." She has studied the bird in the Southwest, and
gives the following graphic description of the bird and its habits:

"One of his favorite performances is to fly up and, with rattling
wings, execute an aerial seesaw, a line of sharp-angled VVVVVVV's,
helping himself at the short turns by rapidly opening and shutting his
long white scissors. As he goes up and down he utters all the while a
penetrating scream, _Ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee_, the
emphasis being given each time at the top of the ascending line.

"Frequently when he is passing along with the even flight of a
sober-minded crow, and you are quietly admiring the salmon lining of
his wings, he shoots rattling into the air, and, as you stare after
him, drops back as suddenly as he rose. He does this apparently
because the spirit moves him, as a boy slings a stone at the sky, but
fervor is added by the appearance of a rival or an enemy, for he is
much like a _Tyrannus_ in his masterful way of controlling the
landscape. He will attack caracaras and white-necked ravens, lighting
on their backs and giving them vicious blows while screaming in their
ears."

AN ALPINE ROSY FINCH*

*Part of the material used in this chapter has already appeared in the
author's work entitled "Birds of the Rockies," but it is here printed
in different form, that of a monograph, with a n