::;::::;:=*v WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY ;*::::::::: 



known Myrtle Warbler of the Eastern United States, 

 except that the throat of the former is yellow instead 

 of white. But ours is a bird of the woods and parks, 

 while the Audubon haunts the patios and adobe walls, 

 showing the utmost familiarity with men and animals. 

 Every city had its corps of feathered scavengers of 

 which Audubon Warbler was the least, as the Turkey 

 Vulture was the greater. For the little bird had for- 

 saken the trees and insects, which elsewhere are its 

 natural habitat and food, and found more to its liking" 

 among the tortilla and frijole crumbs, with perhaps 

 a sprinkling of the spiders which so love the ill-kept 

 j)atLOs of the poorer classes. Although we occasionally 

 found it far from the haunts of men, yet we shall always 

 associate the yellow, gray, and black of this warbler 

 with the heart of the towns. 



Almost as familiar and tame were the little Inca 

 Doves, scaled from head to foot and with long, tapering 

 tails. These brown, bobbing forms of the dust flew up 

 with a flurry of wings from beneath our feet on almost 

 every pathway. They had as little fear of man as the 

 chickens and pigs which disputed the right of way. 



Two species of grackles, or blackbirds, were always 

 found in the parks and gardens of Mexican cities, 

 at least in winter, — the small, yellow-eyed, iridescent 

 Brewer Grackle, and the grandest of all his kind, the 

 Great-tailed Grackle. The latter was a conspicuous 

 feature of all the public j^lazas and parks, its black 



«4 61 •>> 



