52 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



much resemble our Spanish jays and are called by the Indians 

 q/icza/es.* 



" The species of sparrows f were very curious, having five dis- 

 tinct colors in their plumage — green, red, white, yellow, blue. 



" There were such vast numbers of parrots and such a variety 

 of kinds that I cannot remember all their names ; and geese of 

 the richest plumage and other large birds. 



" These were at stated periods stripped of their feathers, that 

 new ones might grow in their place. All these birds had appro- 

 priate places to breed in and were under the care of several In- 

 dians of both sexes, who had to keep their nests clean, give to 

 each kind its proper food, and set the birds for breeding." 



In another place, near a temple were kept all manner of 

 beautiful animals, the names of which were not noted by Diaz, 

 nor their peculiarities described. 



" In the building where human sacrifices were perpetrated 

 there were dens in which were kept poisonous serpents and 

 among them ' a species at the end of whose tail there was a kind 

 of rattle.' This last-mentioned serpent, which is the most dan- 

 gerous, was kept in a cabin in which a quantity of feathers had 

 been strewed : here it laid its eggs, and it was fed with the flesh 

 of dogs and of human beings which had been sacrificed. 



* * * When all the tigers and lions \ roared together with 

 the howlings of the jackals § and foxes and hissing of the ser- 

 pents, it was quite fearful, and you could not suppose otherwise 

 than that you were in hell." 



This is the first record of the rattlesnake, and brings to mind 

 the captive snakes of the Mokis, their annual snake dance, and 

 their use of feathers in the same connection. || 



I am not yet prepared to believe in the marvellous aquaria de- 

 scribed by Prescott, although fish ponds there doubtless were. 



I am assured by our fellow member, Senor Aguilera, that the 

 locations of the gardens of Montezuma are well identified and 

 that the Mexican Indians still possess a marvellous knowledge of 

 the medicinal virtues of plants, which is handed down by tradition 



* Trogons, known as quetzales by the Mexican Indians of to-day. Ex- 

 cellent examples of their pictorial use of trogon feathers may be seen in 

 the U. S. National Museum. 



f Cyanosplza versicolor. 



J Ocelots, jaguars, pumas, eyras, jaguarundis. 



§The coyote (coyotl), Cain's la trans. 



|| See Bourkf : The Snake Dance of the Moguls of Arizona, New York, 

 TSS4. 



