:::::::::*; TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO ;*::::::::: 



silvery song. The boulders are less frequent now and 

 the velvety, yielding* sand strews our path Avitli silence. 

 Something crackles and pushes through the bushes 

 ahead of us and we stop motionless. Two Mexican 

 Deer walk down the steep slope and then turn river- 

 ward. Some instinct, born of their alert, wild life, 

 impels them to turn and look at us, and there we stand, 

 almost afraid to breatlie, lest w^e startle them. Our 

 hearts seem to beat audibly, our pulses to click. The 

 deer stand as if cut in stone, twitching- not a muscle. 

 All their being is straining tlirough those four large 

 eyes — those (piivering nostrils. Is it life or death 

 which tliey see ? 



The strain becomes unbearable and we step forw^ard. 

 Eight tendons snap, and lift the deer liigh in air. 

 Two white tails shine out, and leaping from ledge to 

 ledge, the two animals go up the hillside, sailing 

 smoothly, swiftly, among l)usli and crag, until they 

 vanish in tlie dimness of the larger growth. 



Armadillos scurry heavily, like little overladen tug- 

 boats, across the river of sand, and more than once a 

 fox drifts noiselessly into its hole. We pass the tangle 

 of white seed-fluffs where we know^ the trogons are 

 roosting, and, turning down the last bend of the roTOi/o, 

 come hito full view of our tents, shining in the moon- 

 light. 



Stronofer than ever there comes to us the love of all 

 the wildness which receives and shelters us so kindly. 



<i 25G -^ - 



