great-tailed grackees, 



tropical birds in abundance one must go 

 at least to South America ; but I have yet 

 to find, in a somewhat extended experi- 

 ence, any place where certain eminently 

 characteristic tropical species are more 

 abundant than we found them at this 

 camp on the Tamesi River distant less 

 than four days from Chicago ! 



A BIRDIyAXD BABEE 



We were awakened by the loud calls 

 of flying parrots, not passing over at a 

 great height, en route to some distant 

 feeding-ground, as one usually sees them, 

 but stopping, with much conversational 

 chatter, to join scores which were break- 

 fasting in the trees overhanging our tents. 



At once we recognized the "double 

 yellow-head" (Amazona oratrix) of the 

 bird stores, rated by dealers as second 

 only to the gray, red-tailed African par- 

 rot in its power of speech, and second to 

 none as a whistler. With it was a slightly 

 smaller, red-capped parrot (Amazona 

 viridiginalis) , which, whatever it may be 

 in a cage, is vocal enough in nature. 

 Parrakeets of two species, with darting, 

 dove-like flight, shot through the clearing, 

 uttering their sharp, rolling cry, or, enter- 

 ing a tree-top, disappeared with incom- 



Photo by Frank M. Chapman 

 NEAR VERA CRUZ, MEXICO 



prehensible completeness until, assured 

 of the safety of their surroundings, they 

 began slowly to move about in search of 

 food. 



Red-billed pigeons (Columba Haviros- 

 tris) nearly as large as our domestic bird, 

 shouted their emphatic "hurrah," and the 

 dainty little scaled doves filled in the gaps 

 with their quaint put-a-coo, put-a-coo; 

 ground doves mourned gently, if incon- 

 solably, and the pygmy owl (Glaucidium) 

 whistled with clock-like regularity from 

 the top of a leafless tree — a perch which 

 this diurnal, light-loving midget prefers. 



Great-tailed grackles creaked, sniffled, 

 whistled, choked, and rattled ; queer little 

 Mexican crows, looking not much larger 

 than blackbirds, perched in flocks in the 

 leafless trees, snoring and grunting; fly- 

 catchers (Myiozetetes texensis and Ty- 

 rannus melancholicus) twittered excit- 

 edly ; Derby flycatchers (Pitangus) cried 

 hip, hip, hurray; gold and black orioles 

 whistled like school - boys homeward 

 bound; anis whined; golden - fronted 

 woodpeckers coughed ; and ever and again 

 the big Mexican pileated woodpecker 

 sprang his thumping, reverberating rattle 

 with astonishing effect. 



540 



