:::"::::m THE MESQUITE WILDERNESS ;*::::::::: 



to ocean. The tail was the most prominent feature 

 of this little personality, black, bordered with white, 

 very long- in proportion to its body, and forever flirted 

 from side to side. The gnatcatchers stood between 

 the hummingbirds and the larger feathered kindred 

 in the matter of fearlessness, and while never showing 

 the almost insect-like lack of fear of the cJaqjarosas, 

 yet they were often willing to trust themselves within 

 two or three feet of our tents and persons. 



We found numbers of last year's nests of the 

 Sinaloa Wren, the owners of which were about, but 

 very wary and shy. The nests were well-made struc- 

 tures of tAvigs and fine grass, globular in shape, with a 

 small round opening in one side. They were conspicu- 

 ous, but safely lodged among the impenetrable thorny 

 acacias. Although these nests were so elaborately 

 roofed over, the wasps' nests which we found were 

 entirely open, often consisting solely of a single layer 

 of comb built out horizontally from a twig. One such 

 comb had been constructed within six inches of the 

 entrance to the nest of a wren. 



A tiny bit of broken shell matted into the bottom 

 of one of these nests Avas the only zoological find 

 which marked our winter's trip. 



It was at the very edge of this little nameless 

 stream that we came upon a strange sight — a drowned 

 Burrowing Owl at the mouth of its tunnel. What per- 

 version of instinct or faulty experience ever led it to 



«4 101 ^ 



