GOINGS ON SANTA BARBARA : Big Bird to Big Bard : A mix including ‘Sesame Street Live,’ endangered flora and fauna, music, comedy and art is on tap.

It’s not easy to categorize this week’s schedule of events in Santa Barbara County. Suffice it to say that they are quite a mix--from Big Bird to the big Bard:

Let’s start with that yellow, feathered creature from the land of PBS. Big Bird will join Bert, Ernie and the rest of his neighbors on the Arlington Theater stage in performances of “Sesame Street Live” on Friday through Sunday. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, 10:30 a.m., 2 and 5 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8.50 for everyone Friday, and $12 (adults) and $10.50 (children) Saturday and Sunday. The Arlington is at 1317 State St. Call 963-4408.

Wildlife photographer B. (Moose) Peterson will give a multimedia presentation on the subject of California’s endangered flora and fauna tonight at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Peterson will discuss how the various species became endangered and what is being done to keep them from extinction. The presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Fleischmann Auditorium. Admission is free.

And who knows, Peterson may even touch on the topic of his nickname. For those who can’t wait, he explains it this way: “When I was little, I was really big.” His first name being Bruce, his childhood acquaintances liked to call him Bruce Moose. So, there you have it.

The Emerson String Quartet, winner of the 1990 Grammy Award for best classical album, will perform at the Lobero Theatre on Friday night. The program will include Haydn’s “Quartet in B Flat Major, Op. 33, No. 4,” Wernick’s “String Quartet No. 4” and Mendelssohn’s “Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 44, No. 3.” The concert will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $17 and $19. Call 963-0761. The Lobero is at 33 E. Canon Perdido St.

UC Santa Barbara’s MultiCultural Center will present the “Chicano Secret Service” comedy trio Friday. The group uses poetry, rap, dance and skits, mixed with some improvisation, for a satirically political show. The “Secret Service” is made up of Eduardo Lopez, Elias Serna and Oxnard native Tomas Carrasco. The show will begin at 8 p.m. at the center. Admission is free. For information, call 893-8411.

Time for some “Milk-and-Cookies.” That’s the name of the Arts Outreach program’s family concert series in Solvang, which on Sunday will feature the musical fantasy “Secret of the Webbing Purple.”

The production was written by Santa Ynez Valley resident Francine Greschler, with musical accompaniment by Diane Dixon, a sixth-grade teacher at Santa Ynez School. Storyteller Michael Katz will also participate. Show time is 6 p.m. at the Royal Scandia Ballroom, 400 Alisal Road. Admission is $20 for a family of four, or $7 (adults) and $4 (children). Tickets will be available at the door or call 688-9533.

Arts Outreach sponsors arts programs throughout the Santa Ynez Valley--specifically for schoolchildren, senior citizens and the Latino community members. The group also sponsors several community concerts each year.

Five members of the Royal Shakespeare Company will make their 16th annual visit to UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday and Feb. 8, this year performing the Bard’s “Much Ado About Nothing” at Campbell Hall. The presentation is part of the arts and lectures division’s “Shakespeare Quarter,” which also includes a Shakespeare-on-film series and university productions of “The Boys From Syracuse” and “Love’s Labor Lost.” “Much Ado About Nothing” will be presented at 8 p.m. both dates, with an additional 2 p.m. show Feb. 8. Tickets for Tuesday’s show are selling swiftly. Call 893-3535.

The Carpinteria Valley Art League will be taking over the Faulkner Main Gallery at the Santa Barbara Library. The work of 26 league members, plus three guest artists, will be exhibited throughout February. More than 100 pieces of artwork will be on display. There will be a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 9, and a symposium on the artists and their work from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 14. The library is at 40 E. Anapamu St. For information, call 963-6766.