:::;:::::*i: TWO BIRD -LOVERS IN MEXICO ;*::::::::: 



a strange, unreal air to his whole appearance. Calmly 

 he eyed me, never moving until I reached out my hand 

 toward him. 



A certain wide-branching tree, covered with berries, 

 was never wholly deserted by birds, and generally its 

 foliage was in constant motion, as its feathered visitors 

 climbed amona;- the leaves and fruit. Our hearts were 

 gladdened by the sight of a flock of robins, but a 

 second glance showed them to be strange birds, garbed 

 in familiar dress and with the blood-mark of our robin 

 in every action. But the hue of the breast of our 

 robin covered the back as well, in these birds, giving 

 us a Red-backed Robin, a very distinct species. From 

 its scientific name w'e should call it the Yellow-biUed. 

 In every flock of twenty or more, there were several 

 large, sombre-hued individuals, of varying shades from 

 head to tail — veritable ghosts of giant robins. But 

 whether a robin's plumage be faded to very ashes, or 

 dyed a flaming scarlet, the sidewise cock of the head, 

 the upright carriage, the well-known chirp penetrate 

 all diso'uises. In a British volume this sombre bird 

 is catalogued as the "Sorry Thrush," — truly a literal 

 translation of MeruJa trlstls, but surely Gray-breasted 

 Robin is preferable ! 



These races of Gray-breasts and Red-backs may be, 

 sjieaking from an evolutionary point of view, fore- 

 fatliers, cousins, or descendants of (^ur Red-breasts. To 

 us, they seemed unreal copies, mingling the familiar with 



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