:::".::::*f NATURE NEAR CAMP ;*::::::::: 



friendly commingling- of these reptiles, birds, and 

 mammals seemed to be that the cave extended far in- 

 ward, not in one large cavity or room but dividing and 

 subdividing into galleries and tunnels, far too small 

 for us to crawl into, but in whose innermost recesses 

 the little wrens probably found safety. The owls per- 

 haps perched high up on the walls, and the Iguanas 

 and Raccoons disposed themselves after a manner best 

 known to them. There is no reason to supjjose that 

 any of these creatures were actually befriended, or 

 even tolerated by the others, but the exigencies of 

 cave life had certainly brought together strange com- 

 panions. Somehow, aided by their diversity of habits, 

 they managed to avoid each other. 



The unfortunate end of the piscatory Derby Fly- 

 catcher came about in this way. Some of the Raccoons 

 usually made their way directly to the water, and 

 drank and splashed about in the darkness. One even- 

 ing it happened that the Derby was fishing from 

 a sand-bar on the opposite bank. One of the coons 

 must have stealthily made his way through the under- 

 brush to within a short distance of the preoccupied 

 flycatcher. Suddenly we heard a loud rustle and the 

 poor bird gave utterance to the most piercing screams, 

 which echoed and reechoed from clifE to cliff. The be- 

 drao-ffled feathers of the bird doubtless rendered it an 

 easy prey. An instant more and a dead silence settled 

 over all. Next morning we found a pile of yellow 



«4 1G3 ^ 



