::::;:;:»v two bird- LOVERS IN MEXICO ^*::::::::: 



above our heads the volcanic rocks were scoured 

 smooth. Here the sunlight never entered, and black 

 lianas hung down from far overhead, twisting and 

 knotting around each other, where they touched, like 

 the Dantesque serpents of some frightful " round " of 

 Purgatorio. 



Wherever a ledge or a more gentle slope gave foot- 

 hold, luxuriant vegetation crowded it ; gigantic Agaves, 

 or Century-plants, variegated with Avliite, starred the 

 walls ; purple-leafed orchids, and now and then a dang- 

 ling tangle of Night-blooming Cereus, the spiny stems 

 looking' like nothino- so much as colonies of monstrous 

 hydras, tentacled and budding. Where the drip and 

 splash of ice-cold springs were heard, mosses and ferns 

 abounded, delicate maidenhair, with fronds two and 

 three feet in length, forming arrowheads of filmiest 

 green against the black moist cliffs. Saxifrage (ety- 

 mologically, if not botanically) lit up the glades with 

 myriads of white stars, filling the whole air with 

 sAveetest fragrance. 



In such a setting we found that most exquisite of 

 birds — the Painted Redstart — in abundance. Not 

 a chirp or warble did they utter, but dashed silently to 

 and fro, flaming out in the dark ravines — visions of 

 black, scarlet, and white. 



Not a sound broke the silence, save the gentle tinkle 

 of water falling upon water. Without warning, from 

 the green depths at one side, there came several notes, 



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