Photo by Frank M. Chapman 



a flock of ibises: tamiahua lagoon, mexico (see page 545) 



tion, half fell, half jumped to the ground, 

 and at top speed galloped over the mud 

 to the lagoon, 50 yards away, and plunged 

 into the water not 2 feet ahead of me. 

 I have not yet made up my mind what I 

 should have done with the formidable- 

 looking reptile if his speed had not out- 

 run my discretion. Iguanas were, in truth, 

 surprisingly common on the little island. 

 The track of their dragging trail was 

 everywhere visible along the beach, and 

 we were frequently startled by having 

 them drop from the limbs overhead and 

 scurry into the water. 



DIRIGIBLE AND AEROPLANE 



On some neighboring islets brown peli- 

 cans and man-of-war-birds were nesting 

 in the black mangroves. The latter were 

 so wholly devoid of fear that in order to 

 secure motion pictures of them in flight 

 it was necessary to shake the limbs on 

 which they were sitting. The mating 

 season was past and the birds were incu- 

 bating their single white egg, and but one 

 bird in the colony of several hundred was 

 seen to inflate its throat pouch. 



This form of sexual display is prac- 

 ticed only by the male, who expands his 



pouch until in form, color, and appear- 

 ance it exactly resembles a red toy bal- 

 loon. This striking appendage is ex- 

 hibited not only when the bird is at rest, 

 but also when it is in the air, and we 

 secured photographs of a flying bird with 

 this great scarlet bladder hanging beneath 

 its bill — a unique combination of dirigible 

 and aeroplane in bird life (see page 551). 



Without further describing our search 

 for land and water birds at sea-level in 

 eastern Mexico, or summarizing what I 

 have briefly written about them, at least 

 enough has been said to show that in its 

 general aspects the avifauna is here highly 

 tropical. Accepting this fact as estab- 

 lished, we may now return to Vera Cruz 

 and begin our journey toward snow-line. 



Remarkable as is the railway journey 

 from Vera Cruz to the table-land, it must 

 be remembered that the region has been 

 settled for centuries and that the original 

 forest has long since disappeared. To 

 find primeval conditions one must there- 

 fore go some distance from the long-es- 

 tablished railways. In my opinion the 

 whole region may best be seen from Cor- 

 doba as a base. The city itself is unusu- 

 ally interesting, the accommodations good, 



546 



