:;::;::::*f WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY m::::::::: 



tame in this locality as all along' the railroad from the 

 eastern coast. The little fellows seemed to have staked 

 out claims for themselves, over which each individual 

 held sway, levying heavy toll upon the mice and grass- 

 hoppers within his chosen domain. Ahout every fifty 

 yards along- the rows of cactus, a Sparrow Hawk had 

 his perch, from which he occasionally sallied to snatch 

 an insect from the ground. Now and then a Marsh 

 Hawk skimmed past, reflecting in his flight every 

 inequality of the ground. As he passed from the range 

 of one Sparrow Hawk to another, each in turn rose 

 and fluttered above him with complaining cries, and 

 long after the larger but inoffensive bird had passed 

 from our sight, his course might be traced by the suc- 

 cession of irate Sparrow Hawks shrieking their " chill y- 

 chUhj " at him. 



The most abundant bird hereabouts was the Clay- 

 coloured Sparrow. It brought to mind the Chipping 

 Sparrow of the North in its tameness and general 

 appearance. Flocks of hundreds of these little birds 

 fed upon the weed-seeds among the dead corn, and after 

 a hawk had passed we might almost step upon scores of 

 them, so closely did they hug the ground in terror. 

 When they rose, it was with a whirr of wings worthy of 

 a much larger bird, a short flight and a swift, long run 

 behind a sheltering furrow. Almost as abundant were 

 the Western Lark Sparrows, haunting the fields and 

 ditches. The handsomely marked head, black-centred 



-x^ 45 ^ 



