;:j>v near the twin VOLCANOS m:::;:;::: 



Two other birds which had a very local distribution 

 in this locality were the Duge Warbler and the Varied 

 Bunting'. The former were nervous little creatures, 

 instantly bringing to mind Maryland Yellow-throats 

 in actions, notes, and choice of haunt, which latter was 

 always the low willows and other bushes fringing the 

 water. Here they were found in abundance, and with 

 them the Varied Buntings in even greater numbers. 

 Toward the end of our stay we frequently saw the male 

 buntings display their beautiful blue, red, and purple 

 hues and their " plum-colovired waistcoats " before 

 their brown sparrow-like mates. The Duge Warbler is 

 one of the most northern representatives of the genus 

 BasUeuterus, which, in number of species, is as highly 

 developed in Central and South America as is the 

 Avarbler genus Deiidroica in the United States. 



A Mexican boy, with the thoroughly Mexican name 

 of Benito Torres, attached himself to our camp as 

 general assistant, and proved to be honest and helpful. 

 Every morning he walked from his native village, six 

 miles away, with milk for our breakfast. I went off on 

 some long trips with him and learned much of a Mex- 

 ican boy's lore concerning wild things. He had the 

 keenest scent of any jierson I have ever known. With 

 a single sniff he could invariably tell whether the in- 

 habitant of an armadillo's burrow was at home or not. 

 This I proved, both positively and negatively, again 

 and again. At climbing he was wonderfully expert. 



«4 195 ^ 



