.•:::;::::C TWO BIRD-LOVERS IX MEXICO B-"-" 



erect, surmountinsf a tinv face like that of some little 

 gnome of the woods. Mouth and nose are pointed, 

 eyes large and lustrous, glowing round and deep in 

 the pale light. But what the gorgeous train of 

 feathers is to the peacock, its tail is to the Ring- 

 tailed Cat. The creature stands half crouching, listen- 

 in"- to all the nioht sounds, when suddenly its tail 

 appears, — no l)are opossum-like affair, nor even like 

 the more ttutty appendage of a raccoon, hut a great 

 filmv mass, ringed white and hlack. curling and furling 

 irracefullv over and around the little animal. Now the 

 hairs lie close and the tail narrows, again it expands 

 and Hutfs (»ut larger in diameter than the entire hody 

 of the little cat. 



Here the Ring-tailed Cat, or />^^s•^Y//■/^YV^s", — for he 

 seems to have no generally accepted common name, — 

 comes and goes, taking hits of meat to his family 

 somewhere up among the rocky cliffs. He is a full- 

 ii'rown animal and vet his tinv face has a wistful, almost 

 infantile expression. How interesting must he the hahy 

 Ringtails ! But the innocent expression of these little 

 fellows is oidy skin deep. Great is the havoc they work 

 among the sleei)ing doves and other hirds Avhich roost 

 near hy. They are somewhat like the raccoons, hut are 

 much more active and cat-like. Among the hranches 

 they are at home and can run up a tree-trunk like a 

 stpiirrel. A strange hahit is that, like the Iguanas, 

 they sometimes leap from high lind)s, crashing down 



- <4 '2'2() ^ 



