SIX MONTHS IK MEXICO. 



9 



tivity, when several kinds have been confined 

 together, I never observed the least inclina- 

 tion to quarrel, but have seen the smaller 

 take what appeared to be unwarrantable 

 liberties with those of five times their size 

 and strength :— thus, when the perch has 

 been occupied by the great Blue-throated 

 one, the diminutive Mexican Star has settled 

 on the long beak of the former, and remained 

 perched on it some minutes, without its 

 offering to resent the insult. 



The house I resided in at Xalapa for 

 several weeks on my return to Vera Cruz, 

 was only one story high, enclosing, like most 

 of the Spanish houses, a small garden in the 

 centre, the roof projecting six or seven feet 

 from the walls, covering a walk all round, 

 and leaving a small space only between the 

 tiles, and the trees which grew in the centre. 

 From the edges of these tiles to the branches 

 of the trees in the garden, the spiders had 



