BOBWHITE IN MEXICO 69 



of that district, are their favorite haunts. Here the 

 mesquites, mimosas, acacias, cassias, Brazil-wood, eb- 

 ony, mahogany, Spanish cedar, and other tropical trees 

 and bushes, give the landscape quite a different aspect 

 from that which Bob is accustomed to see in his north- 

 ern home. Old cornfields and weedy indigo planta- 

 tions are popular resorts, and furnish an abundance of 

 food. Brush fences of thorny scrub are built about these 

 fields, and serve as fine places of shelter in times of dan- 

 ger. The quails do not penetrate heavily wooded bot- 

 toms along streams, where the moisture causes a vigor- 

 ous tropical forest growth, unless some farmer hews out 

 a clearing for his cornfields. In these forest belts the 

 motmots, trogons, red-and-yellow macaws, several spe- 

 cies of parrots and other tropical birds, abound, and a 

 little farther south troops of spider monkeys are en- 

 countered. In many places it is but a few steps from 

 the dense shade of the bottoms, where the harsh screams 

 of the macaws dominate all other woodland notes, to 

 the borders of grassy prairies where our friends pass 

 their sedate lives, associated with meadow-larks and 

 sparrows. Throughout this region, where deer, pec- 

 caries, tree pheasants and other game is plentiful, small- 

 er birds are considered unworthy of powder and shot, 

 all of which conduces greatly to peace of mind among 

 the bobwhites. 



"While traveling down the coast from Tehuantepec 

 into Chiapas, we found them numerous most of the 

 way, and they were a constant source of interest and 

 pleasure. Their cheerful notes were frequently heard 



