::::::::»v t\yo bird- lovers IN MEXICO B-"-" 



this din, the Kqiiid, chain-like melody of the Solitaire 

 held true, cutting' through the macaws' territic cries 

 like a shaft of clear light through the darkness. Two 

 bird voices more antithetical probably do not exist, 

 and the birds themselves present as strong a contrast, 

 — the gray thrush with its delicate bill opened ever 

 so little, and the gaudy green macaws, scarlet fronted, 

 with huge yellow mandibles wide agape ! 



All passed in a moment, but our glance remained 

 upward, and far up, across the narrow strip of blue sky 

 which roofed the arroyo, two vultures and a Caracara 

 Eagle passed in their circling flight. A Black Hawk, 

 which had been perched in a niche of the clitf, now 

 took to wing with an echoing cry ; a White-fronted 

 Dove whirred past our resting-place ; and a velvety 

 Heliconia butterfly waved its way slowly up the defile. 

 Then a great peace settled over the little shut-in bit of 

 world, and for many minutes we sat there, marvelling 

 upon the beauty and wonder of it all. 



Far up in these isolated defiles we found that the 

 trogons spent their days, while at night, as we had 

 seen, they came to the river to drink, and roosted not 

 far from its waters. The habits of the White-fronted 

 Doves were almost the reverse of this, as we suspected 

 Avhen we noticed the flocks passing at evening up into 

 the lower arroyo. 



As we made our way up the arroyo, we were hardly 

 conscious of the gradual ascent, but a steep climb to the 



«4. 248 #* 



