. Two bird-lovers in Mexico . ields which stretched beyondthe makers of bricks. It is not diflicult to describea Guadalajara winter landscai)e where the last drop ofnu)isture fell in October, and the sun shines uncloudedby storm until the following June. Here and there,far apart, we saw large mesquite-trees, but besides thesethe eve rested only on maize-fields, with the brownstalks of the last crop still standing. These fields aredivided off, not by fences of stone or wire, but byditches eight to ten feet in depth and as many wide,while along each side runs a fringe of tall cactus, mak-ing tre
. Two bird-lovers in Mexico . ields which stretched beyondthe makers of bricks. It is not diflicult to describea Guadalajara winter landscai)e where the last drop ofnu)isture fell in October, and the sun shines uncloudedby storm until the following June. Here and there,far apart, we saw large mesquite-trees, but besides thesethe eve rested only on maize-fields, with the brownstalks of the last crop still standing. These fields aredivided off, not by fences of stone or wire, but byditches eight to ten feet in depth and as many wide,while along each side runs a fringe of tall cactus, mak-ing trespassing often a diflicult and painful inverted fences are to drain off the excess water <4 40 ^ :^iM WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY ?*::::::::: during the season of rains, but we found them usefulfor reasons of our own. Our progress was at first discouraging. The waywas hot and dusty, and the cornstalks crashed underthe lightest step, alarming all the birds for yardsaround. At last, while watching a hummingbird. A GUADALAJARA DITCH ^ 41 ^ :::::::::*f TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO B-— through my glasses, I slipped and fell into a ditch andI remained there the rest of the day, not because ofinability to get out, but because I found these ditchesmost delightful and profitable places in which to ram-ble. Ramifying as they do about every field, Ave madeour way in any direction without ascending to theground above. The broad green pads of the cactusarchinof overhead shut out the olare of the sun, whilethe lacework skeletons of the fallen leaves made ourfootsteps noiseless. But all this was to little advantage if these sunkenavenues offered no attractions to the birds and otherwild creatures. Our most sanguine hopes were realized,as future walks demonstrated. Not only did the l)irdsand small beasts rush to the protection of the ditcheswhen alarmed in the open fields, but here many hadtheir liomes, here the birds roosted at night, and a muchlarger number found their food b
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