148 



RECREATION 



war-like appearance. They are most 

 interesting animals in their habits. 

 They seem to be strictly diurnal, and 

 the hotter the sun the more do they en- 

 joy basking in it. Not until the cool of 

 early morning has passed do they ap- 

 pear, crawling slowly out of their 

 gloomy caverns to the highest point of 

 rock in their vicinity, where, holding 

 themselves as high as their short legs 

 will permit, they look carefully around 

 in all directions. 



The iguana is apparently soon satis- 

 fied that all is as it was the day before 

 and Jie slowly settles down, sprawling 

 flat upon the stone, of which, to all in- 

 tents and purposes, it becomes a part. 

 The keenest eye fails to .differentiate 

 rock and lizard, so exactly does the 

 mottling of the creature's scales har- 

 monize with the weathered and lich- 

 ened surface of the stone. But nothing 

 escapes the vigilant eye of the black 

 spirits of the barranca, and sometimes 

 a vulture swoops close, craning its 

 neck at the motionless lizard to see if, 

 perchance, its ally, death, has not 

 passed here, and provided a repast. In 

 an instant the lizard is up full height, 

 and with mouth wide open it sways 

 from side to side, throwing its head up 

 and down and snapping at the upward 

 fling, — a most remarkable performance 

 and well calculated to impress an en- 

 emy with the formidable character of 

 its opponent. In reality the iguana is 

 singularly defenceless, and these terri- 

 fying actions are pure "bluff." The up- 

 curved pinions of the vulture swing 

 outward and the bird floats evenly 

 across the abyss to the opposite cliff. 

 The iguana seems to realize the harm- 

 less nature of the bird of carrion, since 

 at the approach of a hawk the reptile 

 turns and scrambles with all speed 

 head-long into its hole. 



When the mid-day heat has driven 

 most creatures to shade or hole, the 

 iguanas sleep peacefully on the blazing 

 rocks and then they can sometimes be 

 quite closely approached. They feed 

 on almost any kind of vegetable food, 

 — roots, bark or leaves, and their flesh 



is delicious. "Dios mio, esta es 

 vcneno r says our Mexican cook, when 

 we bring in a large iguana and ask that 

 it be cooked for supper. We explain 

 that it is not poison, and in fact we 

 find the meat white and as delicate >in 

 flavor as that of a chicken, and very 

 much resembling frogs' legs. After 

 that it becomes a regular item on our 

 bill of fare. 



Long before the sun's rays have be- 

 come tempered by the breezes of late 

 afternoon the great lizards have dis- 

 appeared and the next actors on the lit- 

 tle stage are two small horned owls, 

 which emerge from the gloom of the 

 cave. These are the most difficult of all 

 its inmates to observe, as they slip out 

 at dusk, their dark mottled plumage 

 melting almost instantly into the dim- 

 ness, as, with silent wing-beats, they 

 launch out and fly up stream. When 

 they return we were never able to dis- 

 cover. 



But the most unexpected sight oc- 

 curs a little before the flight of the 

 owls or more often afterward. A con- 

 fused mingling of shadowy forms is 

 seen in the semi-darkness of the cave, 

 walking about or reaching up with tiny 

 hands — a crowd of little gnomes they 

 seem, up for a rest from their labors 

 in the great underground smelting 

 room of the neighboring volcano. Soon 

 they crowd near one side and in single 

 file creep along the ledge-like trail, 

 which leads to the almost impenetrable 

 jungle opposite our camp; — ten Mexi- 

 can raccoons which make this cave 

 their home ! One day in broad daylight 

 we made our way to the opposite sum- 

 mit and clambered down, lowering our- 

 selves with saplings and heavy vines 

 until we are at the entrance itself. The 

 only explanation of the apparent 

 friendliness of these reptiles, birds and 

 mammals seems to be that the cave ex- 

 tends far inward, not in one large cav- 

 ity or room, but dividing and subdi- 

 viding into galleries and tunnels, far 

 too small to admit our bulky forms, 

 but in whose innermost recesses the lit- 

 tle wrens probably find safety. The 



