::::::::»K TWO BIRD- LOVERS IN MEXICO Afe""-:: 



tree, though never a feather did they show to us. 

 Soon after dark the wild kindred of these tropical 

 jungles awakened and came forth from all the nests 

 and holes and crevices and hollows in which they 

 had slept out the day. Snug in our tents we listened 

 to the sharp squeaks of the vampires, following their 

 lesser brethren, but on more sanguinary quests. The 

 coyotes' chorus rose and died away ; the thin bark- 

 ing of the Gray Foxes followed, like an echo of the 

 coarser sound. Then the cordon of creatures drew 

 closer and closer around our camp. There were 

 always many stray bones and scraps which we left 

 scattered about on purpose, and the scent of these 

 reached, and unerringly directed, scores of keen little 

 moist muzzles. 



How exciting it was to lie and listen quietly to the 

 soft i^at ! pat ! of scurrying feet ! We occasionally 

 crept to the tent-flap, or to some one of our little ob- 

 servation holes, to see how correctly our imagination 

 had interpreted the sounds. The quick crunching trot 

 of an armadillo was always easy to distinguish, but 

 that scufEing and scraping must surely be a fox or a 

 very large raccoon or ^^erhaps even some larger, fiercer 

 creature ! A glance outside showed the originator of 

 all this commotion to be the tiniest of white-breasted 

 Wood Mice ! Again, when no sound was audible, a 

 stealthy look revealed a pair of exceedingly long-tailed 

 Mexican Opossums, ambling silently about near by. 



«4 274. ^ 



