The morning times., 1897-03-07
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3 This Bird Trims His Tail {

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Here the stream ranfrom a deep hole TO
a water-worn basin in the bed of the rock
A drift Of clean and yellow sand lay at the
base OF high Cliff, sloping gdown from hich
was deep pooi-.a delightful place for a
bath, though the huge cray-fish crawling
over the bottom looked rather Formidable
In the rainy season this little stream prob
ably rose to the dimensions of a roaring
torrent, as evidenced by the trees Ind
branches lodged among the rocks over
head the trees and vines formed canopy
of verdure, while in front hung q curtain
| of lianas, or bush-ropes, stretched across
like the netted threads of Il hammock.
| All The birds OF the island seemed to
find refuge here as oon as the heat out
side became Observation-Disclosures
| thrushes, dove flycat chers, emerald
coated trogons and humming birds in
their iIidescent sheen or feathers They
| regarded me quite cHrio usly as l lay
prone upon The sand, but not one
| seemed TO doubt the honesty of my in
| tentions, and this touching confidence
| robbed me of whatever sinister motive
! had l n entering the place So my
| gun leaned idly against the rock, while
L watched the mo Jions Of my companions
| Never had naturalist better o ppor-
tunity for becoming acquainted with the
| little folk that wear plumage
| Making as little disturbance as possible.
| l drew out my notebook and pencil, and
! fcr hours was absorbed in recording
the many odd things which / saw. At
| last, however, 1 fell asleep; and when
| woke the gorge was in deep shadow, for
| the sun had set and most of the birds had
| gone to their haunts for the night. |
| was about to depart, when my ears were
| saluted by a sound that made me start
| and clutch my gun nerSously In the
| words ofthe great Crusoe: ''If had had a
| hat ON my head, L win not answer for it
that my hair might not have lifted ii Off"
For, it was the same strange spirit-voice
| which he heard, uttering it's melancholy
| call.
Suddenly the hollow voice sounded right
| over my head, causing me to Jump wildly
| to one side. There was a rift in the net
| work or vines, through which | caught q
| glimpse Of a dark form on the dead branch
| of a silk-cotton tree. Raising my gun. |
said to myself: We'll, we will soon settle
| this when the dusky creature threw back
its head and again uttered its melancholy
cry. The note seemed strangely familiar.
| Then, all at once, IL broke upon me that |
had heard this same cry. years before,
in cave OF far-away Yucatan lowered
my gun, sat down on the sand, and laughed
at myself. 80 ycu are 'Toh, my dear old
bird; and instead Of intending to frighren.
| only meant to greet me?' He came hopping
toward my retreat, and talked to him
as to an old acquaintance: and ne really
seemed to understand me, bobbing his
head from side to side and looking as wise
as Judge
- on is said to have been the only
bird left outside the ark at the time OF
the delugc The Indians of Yucatan
told me this tradition, when l visited
them many Gears ago. The original
Toh was a very bad bird, they said,
for he sat on the tree beneath which
Father Noah was at work putting the
ark together, and wickedly scoffed at the
patriarch. Noah only shook his head, ad-
moniShng him: You had better come
in out of the wet when the ark wa fin
ished; tut Toh refused to enter. Noah
said no more. thinking, probably, that it
was the birds own business if he got
drowned; but some OF the animals. as they
passed beneath the tree, tried TO per-
SuauS MIN To 60 With thciH into the Tx.
The giraffe and the elephants finally got
quite angry AT Toh' : scoffings, and reached
up to seize him, but only succeeded in pull
ing out some OF the feathers from his
tail; and this is the way, the Indians
| said that Toh's tail got so sinsularly
| stripped. But Toh kept on laughing at
| them, and repeated his cry of ''toh,
toh.'-which is Indian for "go along"
and so along they went, without him.
Yet, the tradition says, he survived the
flood, and was the first to greet Noah
and his passengers when they landed.
In Yucatan, TohlvcSiu the curious water
caves, sometimes a hundred feet deep.
| from WHICH the Yucatan Indians get their
| only supplies for drinSing purposes The
! West-IDdian representative OF the family
| is called the King o f-the- Woods He
| does not live in a cave, because he can
| find none there that are suitable, but he
| digs hole II mari bank from five to
| ten feet deep, and there, in April or May,
| Mrs Toh lays three or four round, white
eggs.
Toh S about seventeen inches in length
has a soft, silky plumage of green and
chestnut, crimson iris, and pretty
| crest; he is altogether an attractive bird.