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



eight often being- in sight at once. On the alkaH plains 

 these reached their highest development, but here 

 amons: the corn-stubble we could watch their formation 

 and motion on a lesser scale. When the air about us 

 was perfectly calm, a circling of dust might begin fif- 

 teen or twenty feet away, which increased in strength 

 and velocity until the vortex was plainly discernible. 

 It usually moved steadily in one direction, but would 

 sometimes make a sharp angle without warning. The 

 dust and debris were now drawn up until a wavering 

 brown finger extended fifty feet or more into the air. 

 The summit tapered to a thread and the whole Avas 

 frequently thrown into violent contortions without 

 breaking the continuity. Such a column might pass 

 unchanged out of sight, or it might break off at the 

 base, and the mass of leaves and dust go sailing up 

 through the air, until some counter-current interrupted 

 the whirling, and the particles drifted to earth. Some- 

 times a sparrow was surprised at his feast of weed- 

 seeds and as he took to wing, his feathers were ruffled 

 and his balance almost upset by the aerial maelstrom. 

 There were certain birds which, like the House 

 Finches, identified themselves with the city itself and, 

 indeed, with almost all the larger towns and villages in 

 Mexico. Not an English Sparrow seemed to have found 

 its way to this fortunate country, and taking the place 

 of these feathered pests was the dainty Audubon 

 Warbler, which is almost identical with our well- 



4 60 ^ 



