The quails, prudently considering the hard times,
abandoned all thought of pairing. They were too poor to marry, and so
continued in flocks all through the year without attempting to rear
young. The ground-squirrels, though an exceptionally industrious and
enterprising race, as every farmer knows, were hard pushed for a living;
not a fresh leaf or seed was to be found save in the trees, whose bossy
masses of dark green foliage presented a striking contrast to the ashen
baldness of the ground beneath them. The squirrels, leaving their
accustomed feeding-grounds, betook themselves to the leafy oaks to gnaw
out the acorn stores of the provident woodpeckers, but the latter kept
up a vigilant watch upon their movements. I noticed four woodpeckers in
league against one squirrel, driving the poor fellow out of an oak that
they claimed. He dodged round the knotty trunk from side to side, as
nimbly as he could in his famished condition, only to find a sharp bill
everywhere. But the fate of the bees that year seemed the saddest of
all. In different portions of Los Angeles and San Diego counties, from
one half to three fourths of them died of sheer starvation.
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