and il has reached even Florida. I( is a myopic, bumbling crea 

 ture that wanders about by day and by night grubbing for insects 

 and other morsels of animal fixid and ingesting with them a lot 

 of earth, so that its droppings form little natural "marbles " It 

 sleeps in large holes that it digs for itself, and it is so strong that 

 if you catch one by the tail as it is disappearing down its hole, 

 you cannot pull it out by brute strength lest its sturdy tail be 

 torn from its compact little body However, these primitive ani- 

 mals, once they realize that ihey are being approached, can take 

 off at an incredible speed on a curving and zigzag course that 

 can outdistance any man and that they can maintain blindly in 

 the thickest ground cover Incidentally, armadillos always have 

 quadruplets and all the young are always of the same sex 

 because they are all developed from a single fertilized egg The 

 two primai-y divisions of this egg. unlike those of other mam- 

 mals, separate completely in the womb and begin new embryos 



ETHEREAL FLYC.MCHER 



Despite the immense numbers of birds to be seen everywhere, 

 notably in the Aransas and Laguna Atascosa refuges, perhaps 

 the most remarkable assemblages of all are on the delta of the 

 Rio Grande. Here are seemingly horizonless expanses of wind- 

 furrowed grass and bare mud. To approach the area there are 

 only two roads and to stray from these is to become bogged down 

 in mud to your ankles, knees, or waist. To seaward there are 

 solid acres of both dry and wet sand, and dunes capped by tufts 

 of grass, with firm beaches beyond them, while to landward are 

 enchanting green pastures enclosed in tangles of spiny, pale 

 green bushes, flowering cactuses, and even some palms, all loud 

 with the ululations of numberless birds. In fact, many of the 

 best bird singers here are kinds that seem, like the ubiquitous 

 Boat-tailed Crackle, mostly only to croak, screech, or yell in 

 other places. The intermediate belt that curves across the delta 

 is a land of enchantment and much mystery. 



The thing here that impresses one most of all is the vast 

 numbers of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. They line the bushes, 

 fences, and especially power lines by the thousands, always 

 spaced out more or less equally. Every now and then one will 

 flip up into the air. grab its unseen gnat, and alight again in 

 its own place. These birds are of a beautiful general color that 

 cannot be adequately described — a smooth, lustrous, grayish 

 pink, flesh color. The beak is slender and the eyes small and 

 bright; on the top of the head is a vivid vermilion tache, and it 

 bears a pair of small marks of the same color on its "shoulders." 

 The wings are dark brown in repose, and the tail, which is more 

 than twice the length of the bird itself, consists primarily of two 

 immense, somewhat twisted central feathers, pale rose in color, 

 with spatulate black paddles at the end. The other pairs of tail 

 feathers are of progressively shorter length and are also black- 

 tipped. When the bird flips into the air these tail feathers make 

 semigyroscopic motions that have to be seen to be understood. 

 These birds have a certain ethereal quality about them that 

 epitomizes this country with its wide-open skies and gay winds 

 and its feathery mimosas. But neither the masses of grackles. 

 strutting about like drunken guardsmen with bandaged knees. 



A typical feature o' llu- couu of tiii< />r. );'.•//,■■■ :< tiv iuu^i: 

 ter of these small black-headed gulls all day. often at night. 

 and in all weathers. 



nor the breezy flycatchers on their elevations are by any means 

 the sole possessors of this delta land. They are confined to the 

 landward side. 



As one wades out onto the mud flats and marshes, all manner 

 of other wondrous creatures spring into view. Here are great 

 flotillas of White Pelicans, bobbing in unison just off the muddy 

 shores and dipping below to the shallows for clams and other 

 tidbits. These will take off in orderly formation only when you 

 approadi too close. In the sloughs and natural ditches are those 

 incredibly bright-painted, long-legged, probing birds, the Avo- 

 cets. and the black and white Stilts, the big Oyster-catchers, and 

 the seemingly endless pattering ranks of less gaudily garbed 

 wading birds such as curlews, plover of many kinds, sandpipers, 

 phalaropes. and so forth. Then there are the gulls and the terns 

 and the skimmers, whose upper bill is much shorter than their 

 lower, all of which congregate in vast numbers on the seaward 

 sand bars. When you are among the coastal lagoons of this 

 province you would have to be a callous citizen indeed if you 

 did not respond to the endless beauty and mystery of these 

 countless armies of delicate creatures, minding their own busi- 

 ness and going about their ordered lives. 



