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



had no fear of hawks, but would attack a Black Hawk 

 with as little hesitation as if he were a vulture. Not 

 once did the Elegant Woodpecker favour us with tattoo 

 on resonant wood. Does he mate for life and thus 

 make less use of the methods of invitation and challenge 

 so common among all his cousins? 



We were surprised at the number of trees which had 

 lost their leaves, fully one third presenting as bare an 

 appearance as the deciduous trees at this time of year 

 at home. One compensation was the flowering of many 

 of these. Before a leaf-bud has unfolded, magnolia- 

 like, a hundred beautiful blossoms, burst forth every 

 day, the first ones withering and falling, but new ones 

 giving the trees a continuous appearance of freshness. 

 The most common of these Avas the Cotton Tree {Bom- 

 hax i^almeri), which the Mexicans call clamllina, a 

 tree of good size, whose oblong flower-buds burst 

 open, revealing a radiating tassel of long silky-white 

 stamens, five or six inches in length. The petals then 

 curve back out of sight, giving the tree the appear- 

 ance of a great mass of delicate, silky floss. These 

 trees love to grow on the very brink of the barrancas, 

 their branches reaching far out over the sheer cliffs. 

 The bark peels off in long, fluttering, red streamers, 

 thin and transparent, and the rustling of these in tlie 

 slightest breath of air is a very characteristic sound 

 of the country. 



The flowers were fragrant and attracted hosts of 



«4- 148 ^ - 



