. Two bird-lovers in Mexico . minutive figure. As if to reproach our amusement,he dived like an arrow, splashsd beneath the water,and returned to the perch with an inch-long must indeed have been written on our faces, asa third kingfisher—a giant of his race—flew swiftlytoward us and perched near his pigmy cousin. Howinsio-nificant the Belted Kino-fisher now seemed ! Hefairly shrunk before our eyes, as our gauge of de-velopment shifted to the newcomer, the great Rufous-bellied Kingfisher. To our eyes, the two extremesseemed comparable to a sparrow and a raven. Twocharges of sho
. Two bird-lovers in Mexico . minutive figure. As if to reproach our amusement,he dived like an arrow, splashsd beneath the water,and returned to the perch with an inch-long must indeed have been written on our faces, asa third kingfisher—a giant of his race—flew swiftlytoward us and perched near his pigmy cousin. Howinsio-nificant the Belted Kino-fisher now seemed ! Hefairly shrunk before our eyes, as our gauge of de-velopment shifted to the newcomer, the great Rufous-bellied Kingfisher. To our eyes, the two extremesseemed comparable to a sparrow and a raven. Twocharges of shot and a millimetre rule would, doubtless,have shown this to be an exaggeration, but we werecontent to let them live and refer to our handbook formeasurements. The big cousin was a handsome bird, with his warmred under parts set ofP by the bands of blue and w hiteacross his breast. We waited eagerly to hear his his rattle was not so clear nor so loud and pene-trating as that of our Belted Kino-fisher. - «4 317 ^. :::::::s*s TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO B^ We shall never forget the trio of birds perching sonear together — a small congress of all the species of kino-fishers which find theirway into the southern partof our own country. Theleast of the three was thefirst to leave, soon followedhy the Belted. The greatRufous bird looked abouthim, liis eye rested upon thewater, and without hesita-tion, he dived downward androse with a six-inch fish fromthe pool. Verily I believe ifthe Belted Kingfisher haddived before he Hew, hewould have secured a threc-lnch minnow! A mile ortwo from the tangle was a little dry, sandy arroyo,inhabited by a single Texas Kingfisher. There wasno water near; nevertheless, here he might alwaysbe found, dashing after grasshoppers and butterfiiesand snatching up diminutive lizards, as skilfully asever one of his race caught a fish. It was amusingf tosee him, after each of his sallies, fiirt his plumage andwings, instinctively shaking imaginary
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