A-Birding on a Bronco — Themes and Context

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In Category - Birds

Authors: Bailey, Florence Merriam, 1863-1948 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2010 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Birds; Birds -- California Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 58,278

Reading time 254 min

Text sections 11

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Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Birds,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #33410

Florence Merriam Bailey's 1896 narrative blends ornithology with horseback rides through southern California, using precise observations of bird behavior and vivid descriptions of the landscape, while candidly acknowledging the limits of her field identifications.

Editorial Edition Score 4.8/5

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

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File: pg33410

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Which was the Mother Bird? (Wren-tit and Lazuli Buntings) 189 The Phainopeplas on the Pepper-tree 194 The Phainopepla's Nest in the Oak Brush Island 198 Eucalyptus Avenue, showing Pollarded Trees on the Right 212 Eucalyptus Wood stored for Market in a Eucalyptus Grove 214 Mountain Billy Deserted 220

BIRDS REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT.[1]

White Egret. _Ardea egretta._ Green Heron. _Ardea virescens anthonyi._ Spotted Sandpiper. _Actitis macularia._ Valley Quail. _Callipepla californica vallicola._ Mourning Dove. _Zenaidura macroura._ Turkey Vulture. _Cathartes aura._ Hawk. _Buteo ----._ Sparrow Hawk. _Falco sparverius deserticolus._ American Barn Owl. _Strix pratincola._ Western Horned Owl. _Bubo virginianus subarcticus._ Burrowing Owl. _Speotyta cunicularia hypogæa._ Road-runner. _Geococcyx californianus._ California Woodpecker. _Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi._ Red shafted Flicker. _Colaptes cafer._ Dusky Poor-will. _Phalænoptilus nuttalli californicus._ Black-chinned Hummingbird. _Trochilus alexandri._ Rufous Hummingbird. _Selasphorus rufus._ Arkansas Kingbird. _Tyrannus verticalis._ Cassin's Kingbird. _Tyrannus vociferans._ Black Phœbe. _Sayornis nigrescens._ Western Wood Pewee. _Contopus richardsonii._ Flycatcher. _Empidonax ----._ Horned Lark. _Otocoris alpestris chrysolæma._ California Jay. _Aphelocoma californica._ American Crow. _Corvus americanus._ Yellow-headed Blackbird. _Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus._ Red-winged Blackbird. _Agelaius phœnicius ----._ Arizona Hooded Oriole. _Icterus cucullatus nelsoni._ Bullock's Oriole. _Icterus bullocki._ Brewer's Blackbird. _Scholocophagus cyanocephalus._ Western House Finch. _Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis._ Goldfinch. _Spinus ----._ White-crowned Sparrow. _Zonotrichia leucophrys gambeli (?)._ Golden-crowned Sparrow. _Zonotrichia coronata._ Heerman's Song Sparrow. _Melospiza fasciata heermanni (?)._ Spurred Towhee or Chewink. _Pipilo maculatus megalonyx._ Green-tailed Towhee. _Pipilo chlorurus._ California Towhee. _Pipilo fuscus crissalis._ Black-headed Grosbeak. _Habia melanocephala._ Western Blue Grosbeak. _Guiraca cærulea eurhyncha._ Lazuli Bunting. _Passerina amœna._ Louisiana Tanager. _Piranga ludoviciana._ Cliff Swallow. _Petrochelidon lunifrons._ Phainopepla. _Phainopepla nitens._ White-rumped Shrike. _Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides._ Warbling Vireo. _Vireo gilvus (?)._ Hutton's Vireo. _Vireo huttoni (?)._ Least Vireo. _Vireo bellii pusillus (?)._ Long-tailed Chat. _Icteria virens longicauda._ American Pipit. _Anthus pensilvanicus._ California Thrasher. _Harporhynchus redivivus._ Vigors's Wren. _Thryothorus bewickii spilurus._ Western House Wren. _Troglodytes ædon aztecus._ Plain Titmouse. _Parus inornatus._ Wren-tit. _Chamæa fasciata._ California Bush-tit. _Psaltriparus minimus californicus._ Western Gnatcatcher. _Polioptila cærulea obscura._ Varied Thrush or Oregon Robin. _Hesperocichla nævia._ Western Bluebird. _Sialia mexicana occidentalis._

[1] In classification and nomenclature this list conforms to the American Ornithologists' Union 'Check-List of North American Birds,' Second Edition, 1895. L. S. Foster, New York.

A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO.

"CLIMB the mountain back of the house and you can see the Pacific," the ranchman told me with a gleam in his eye; and later, when I had done that, from the top of a peak at the foot of the valley he pointed out the distant blue mountains of Mexico. Then he gave me his daughter's saddle horse to use as long as I was his guest, that I might explore the valley and study its birds to the best advantage. Before coming to California, I had known only the birds of New York and Massachusetts, and so was filled with eager enthusiasm at thought of spending the migration and nesting season in a new bird world.

I had no gun, but was armed with opera-glass and note-book, and had Ridgway's Manual to turn to in all my perplexities. Every morning, right after breakfast, my horse was brought to the door and I set out to make the rounds of the valley. I rode till dinner time, getting acquainted with the migrants as they came from the south, and calling at the more distant nests on the way. After dinner I would take my camp-stool and stroll, through the oaks at the head of the valley, for a quiet study of the nearer nests. Then once more my horse would be brought up for me to take a run before sunset; and at night I would identify my new birds and write up the notes of the day. What more could observer crave? The world was mine. I never spent a happier spring. The freedom and novelty of ranch life and the exhilaration of days spent in the saddle gave added zest to the delights of a new fauna. In my small valley circuit of a mile and a half, I made the acquaintance of about seventy-five birds, and without resort to the gun was able to name fifty-six of them.

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Florence Merriam Bailey opens A-Birding on a Bronco with a practical confession: the field notes from which the book is drawn were taken during two short seasons—March to May 1889 and March to July 1894—at Twin Oaks in southern California. She admits that because no collecting was done, the identity of a few species remains uncertain, and she has left their names blank or questioned in the list of birds. This honest framing sets the tone for a work that values careful watching over taxonomic certainty.

The book’s structure follows the rhythm of her rides on Mountain Billy, a horse whose name appears in chapter titles and whose movements shape the narrative. Bailey’s prose moves between patient observation—waiting for a bird to reappear—and sudden action, as when she turns Billy toward a snake or listens to a German mower sing while mowing the very spot where a rattler had been.

The Horse as Field Companion

Bailey’s choice to conduct her birding on horseback is not merely a convenience but a narrative device. Mountain Billy is a character in his own right, and the author’s attention to his reactions—holding his head up “in consideration of the snakes,” or standing still while she waits for birds—creates a partnership that defines the book’s voice. The horse’s presence allows Bailey to move through the valley with a blend of control and vulnerability: she can follow birds into the weeds, but she also depends on Billy’s instincts to avoid danger. When she spots a snake at his feet, her first thought is for his safety, not her own. This interdependence gives the observations a grounded, embodied quality, as if the reader is riding alongside her.

Diction of the Field: Precision and Uncertainty

Bailey’s language is marked by a careful balance between exact description and admitted doubt. She notes that a snake “marked like a rattler” had a blunt tail, which she knew distinguished the harmless gopher snake from the rattler—but in the dim light she “could not make out whether it had rattles or not.” This moment of uncertainty is typical: she records what she sees, but does not pretend to certainty when conditions are poor. Similarly, in the prefatory note she explains that when plumage of the two sexes is identical, she has “sometimes been arbitrarily distinguished in the text.” Such candor is rare in nature writing of the period and gives the book a scientific integrity that complements its narrative charm.

Sound and Silence in the Valley

Bailey’s descriptions are as much about listening as looking. She recalls the “wonderful freshness of California’s fog-cleared skies” during morning rides, and the “peacefulness of the quiet valley at twilight.” But sound also interrupts: the German mower’s “deep rich voice” singing a melody, then a “harsh cry to his mules.” The contrast between the man’s singing and his workaday shout mirrors the book’s own shifts between lyrical observation and practical field notes. Bailey also notes the “tranquil birds singing their evening songs” as the sun sets, but she does not romanticize the scene—the same valley holds rattlesnakes, and the mower kills one and hangs it on a branch for her to see. The soundscape is layered, never simple.

The Ornithological Landlady’s Perspective

Bailey adopts a playful but precise metaphor when she describes herself as an “ornithological landlady” whose ranch is home to “tenants”—the birds nesting in the sycamores and willows. This framing allows her to combine scientific attention with a sense of domestic stewardship. She rides “along the shady line and making friendly calls at each tree,” as if checking on lodgers. The metaphor is not merely cute; it reflects a real concern for the birds’ welfare. She notes that “so many houses were being put up without so much as a by-your-leave” that she had to “bestir herself and look to her ornithological squatters.” The humor is understated, but the underlying message is serious: the valley is a shared habitat, and Bailey sees herself as its responsible observer.

Readers approaching A-Birding on a Bronco should expect a hybrid work—part field journal, part travel narrative, part character study of a horse and a landscape. Bailey’s prose rewards attention to small details: the way she notes a bird’s song, the shape of a snake’s tail, or the color of the light at sunset. She does not claim to have seen everything, and she is not afraid to leave a question mark in the margin. This honesty makes the book a refreshingly grounded entry in the natural history tradition, one that invites the reader to ride alongside her and look carefully.

I recall Miss Bailey, her pony pausing beneath a sycamore while a wren scolded unseen. She was honest about her uncertainty, which makes her company so dear. A similar patience fills Everyday birds, turning the common into something gently known. The kinship is quiet, like two people who have watched the same dawn and agreed not to speak of it. Everyday birds: Elementary studies — Reading Notes holds that same unhurried truth.