::::;;::3G TWO BIRD -LOVERS IN MEXICO 1^:::::::: 



more fascinating', in tlieir way, than the hving beasts 

 and birds which peopled the tropics beyond. For sev- 

 eral months in the year a portion of this desert is buried 

 under at least two feet of water. At the beginning of 

 the dry season, when this evaporates, the barren wastes 

 yield their only crop, — a rich harvest of fossils. Great 

 curved ribs, mighty thigh-bones, and large, deeply 

 furrowed teeth are washed to the surface — a stony 

 harvest of ivory and enamel, relics of herds of Impe- 

 rial Mammoths [Ehpltas imperator), which roamed 

 the earth when man was first beginning to know his 

 power. 



One of the most wonderful exhibitions of bird-life in 

 Mexico came to us as we left the alkali plain and rode 

 among the mesquite scrub. A confused mass of black 

 appeared in the air which, as Ave advanced, resolved 

 itself into hundreds of individual specks. The atmos- 

 phere was so deceptive that what, at first, appeared to 

 be a vast cloud of gnats close at hand was soon seen 

 to be a multitude of birds, blackbirds perhaps, until we 

 approached and thought them ravens, and finally, when 

 a quarter of a mile away, we knew that they were vul- 

 tures. Three hurros lay dead upon the plain, — this we 

 knew yesterday, — and here were the scavengers. Never 

 had we seen vultures more numerous or in more orderly 

 array. A careful scrutiny through our glasses showed 

 many scores of Black and Turkey Buzzards walking 

 about and feeding upon the carcasses of the animals, 



<4 88 ^ 



