::::::::3e TWO BIRD -LOVERS IN MEXICO B:-:-:" 



thorns. A true native of the mesquite wilderness this, 

 sharing his thorny home with a few Western Mockers 

 and a great many White-rumped Shrikes. Indeed the 

 latter had the upper liand here, far outnumbering the 

 scattering of Sparrow Hawks, the reverse of the ease 

 near the cities and raihoads. 



A strange little trilling song once drew our steps 

 toward a mesquite in which several tiny birds were 

 hopping and singing. Tlieir little bodies were clad in 

 dull gray, with a black band crossing through the eyes 

 and sides of the head. In their actions and appearance 

 were shadowed the gnatcatcher. kinglet, and chick- 

 adee, but they were none of these. Bushtits we must 

 call them — these happening to be the Lloyd. We 

 were able to make certain of this when we examined 

 one which was killed and then dropped by a shrike. 

 Their generic name bears out one of our first thoughts, 

 for it is Psdltr'ijKii'Ks, — hopping chickadee, we may 

 translate it. They Avere trustful little creatures and 

 passed close to us, trilling and searching the yellow 

 pollen of the blossoms among the thorns. 



Another bird, or Hock of birds, observed the same 

 day, which hesitatingly whispered the beginning of a 

 little song, giving promise of a more elaborate strain 

 later in the year, was the Brewer Sparrow, one of the 

 most streaked of finches, at least on its upper parts. 



We know that the wrens and thrashers are closely 

 related to each other structurally, and in the North we 



*4 94 -^ 



