WILD CAVE DWELLERS OF MEXICO 



149 



owls perhaps perch high up on the 

 walls and the iguanas and 'coons dis- 

 pose themselves after a manner hest 

 known to themselves. There is no rea- 

 son to suppose that any of these crea- 

 tures are befriended by the others, but 

 the exigencies of cave-life have cer- 

 tainly brought together strange com- 

 panions, and, somehow, aided by their 

 diversity of habits, they manage to 

 avoid one another. 



It is in this same barranca that we 

 make the acquaintance of the derby 

 flycatcher, one of the most character- 

 istic and at the same time one of the 

 noisiest birds of Mexico, screaming 

 and calling all through the day. We 

 first met this bird in winter, when in- 

 sects, while fairly abundant, were ap- 

 parently too scarce to provide the fly- 

 catchers with their usual diet, and we 

 found them feeding freely on berries 

 and seeds. These derbies add much to 

 the color and life of the barranca, 

 often flying past up or down stream. 

 They are large and powerful birds, 

 over ten inches in length and strikingly 

 marked ; the throat being white, while 

 the rest of their under parts are sul- 

 phur yellow, the large head being 

 marked with black and white, with a 

 crown of bright yellow and orange. 

 We were much surprised to see this 

 bird display a most peculiar habit, — 

 namely, the art of fishing. This indi- 

 vidual is the only one of this species 

 which frequents our camp, and here 

 the solitary bird spends much of each 

 morning, unmolested by the kingfish- 

 ers and all but equalling them at their 

 own trade. The flycatcher, too, perches 

 upon a rock and watches the eddies, 

 and then dives with all his might two 



or three times in succession, each time 

 securing a small fish, or sometimes a 

 tadpole. It seems impossible for this 

 bird to immerse himself more than 

 three consecutive times, as his plumage 

 becomes water soaked and he then flies 

 heavily to a sunlit branch, where he 

 spreads himself in the sun. After dry- 

 ing off he is at it agaim It would be 

 most interesting to know if, when a 

 bird of so unusual habits, mated and 

 raised a brood of young, the knowl- 

 edge of this art would in any way be 

 imparted to them. In this instance, at 

 least, no such event happens, the death 

 of this bird being due to one of the in- 

 habitants of our cave. 



The unfortunate end of the pisca- 

 tory derby flycatcher came about in 

 this way. Some of the raccoons gener- 

 ally made their way directly to the 

 water, where they would drink and 

 splash about in the darkness. It hap- 

 pened one evening that the derby was 

 fishing from a sand-bar on the oppo- 

 site bank. One of the 'coons must have 

 stealthily made his way through the 

 underbrush to within a short distance 

 of the busy flycatcher. Suddenly we 

 heard a loud rustle and the poor bird 

 gave utterance to the most piercing 

 screams, which echoed from cliff to 

 cliff. An instant more and a dead si- 

 lence settled over all. Next morning 

 we found a little pile of yellow feathers 

 and the telltale bear-like foot-prints of 

 the animal. The raccoon returned the 

 following night, but the bird which he 

 found ready to slay was tied to 

 the pedal of a steel trap, and by the 

 law of fate we enjoyed a delicious stew 

 made from the fattest of 'coons, and 

 the derby was avenged ! 



