:::::::::=*x THE MESQUITE WILDERNESS ;*:;::::::: 



eager, no more tender, yet some subtle fate, with work- 

 ings too line for our senses, decides against the first 

 suitor, and, before the second bird has regained his 

 perch, the female flies low over the cactus-pads, fol- 

 lowed by the breathless performer. 



Even after the choice was made and the two birds 

 remained perched close together, the male occasionally 

 performed his singing flight, his mate sometimes 

 watching him, sometimes coquettishly ignoring his 

 efforts and continuing her short darts after flying 

 insects. Several times we noticed mated Vermilion 

 Flycatchers in company with one or two young birds 

 of last year. These were doubtless families which had 

 remained united all this time. 



To a person unfamiliar with the birds of Mexico 

 and the Western United States, the mesquites were full 

 of surprises. Occasionally a brownish gray form darted 

 across our path, and, folding its wings, continued its 

 course upon the ground with swift, running hops, 

 dartinof behind each bush and clod of earth. A 

 moment's watching, and its curiosity forcing its head 

 into view, we noticed the most striking character of 

 the Curve-billed Thrasher. Whether we call him 

 brownish gray or grayish brown, his plumage is so 

 uniformly characterless in tone that it seems to change 

 with the position of the bird. When on the ground 

 the tone seems grayish white ; when among the mesquite 

 the hue darkens and fits in with the dull stems and 



«4 93 ^ 



