ALONG OUR SIDE OF THE MEXICAN BORDER 



75 



Kerrey -^^atemor w 



Drawn by A. H. Bumstead 



A LONG, CROOKED LINE: THE HISTORIC UNITED STATES-MEXICO BOUNDARY 



Some of the wildest and least-known regions of our country are piled up against this 

 border. From the Gulf of Mexico up to El Paso, along the Texas frontier, the Rio Grande 

 forms the boundary ; thence to the Pacific coast the line is marked by monuments of stone 

 and iron, so set that one is supposed to be visible from another. 



Bird life abounds along the Yuma-to- 

 Calexico section of the boundary, espe- 

 cially along the river delta. Here one 

 may see ducks, geese, gulls, brown eagles, 

 hawks, blue herons, couriers del camino, 

 or "road-runners," elf owls, humming- 

 birds, and, among the mountains on the 

 western edge of the Colorado desert, even 

 occasionally that greatest of all American 

 birds, the giant condor. When sitting 

 erect these birds sometimes measure four 

 feet in height. 



A prize assortment of reptiles and in- 

 sects is scattered along this border trail, 

 much discussed by nervous newcomers 

 who "camp out" for the first time. 



Rattlers, side-winders, scorpions, centi- 

 pedes, tarantulas, and the lazy, sluggish 

 Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum), to 

 say nothing of the flat, toad-like chuck- 

 walla and a variety of other lizards, live 

 a happy life. Then there are also the 

 banded gekko lizard, the horned toad, 

 and the desert tortoise. (In a lion's den 

 on the Sonora side south of Ajo, I found 

 a number of land tortoise shells, indicat- 

 ing that the lioness had brought these 

 turtles in as food for her young.) 



Along the New Mexico and Arizona 

 borders occurs a distinctively interesting 

 bird life. The big Texas "scale quail" 



has now walked as far west as Sasabe, 

 on the Arizona line. A few years ago it 

 was unknown in these parts. 



In his "Distributional List of the Birds 

 of Arizona," Harry S. Swarth gives a 

 total of 362 species and subspecies. 

 Many of these, however, are transients, 

 being winter or summer visitors. In 

 June and July the white-winged Sonora 

 pigeon comes across the border by the 

 tens of thousands. In small, almost dry 

 "tanks," or Arizona ponds, I have shot 

 the crooked bill curlew. Yes, shore-birds 

 in Arizona ! 



In springtime the desert areas are 

 bright with flowers. New Mexico and 

 Arizona have an indigenous flora almost 

 as large as California. A hundred mem- 

 bers of the cactus family are in evidence, 

 affording food to rabbits, gophers, field- 

 rats, bird:;, beetles, and deer, as well as 

 to cattle and burros. Were it not for 

 their thorns, these plants would probably 

 be utterly destroyed by these troops of 

 hungry animals. 



A DESERT LABORATORY ESTABLISHED 



To aid farmers in getting better crops, 

 a desert laboratory has been set up near 

 Tucson, where a study of desert plant 

 life is being carried on. Eventually, per- 



