The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1905-10-05
MIXTURES OF MEXICO
HOW THESE BIRDS HAUNT THE ARID
AukALl PLAINS.

The WhirrinE Black Cone of Eager
ljesert Scnvengers and the Way In
which the Circling Mass Desccnds
Upon It's Carbon Prey.
At night the moon looks down upon |
a desolate, arid plain, stretching away
to the great Sierra Madre mountain
chain, deep, shadowy blue, against the |
western sky. The air is chill, and
bleak wind searches out every fold in
our blankets--we might almost be
spending night on the tundras.
With scarce moment Of dawn the
sun floods everything most welcome
warmth for awhile, soon to make one
gasp in it's breathless heat. Long be-
fcye the rainy season actually begins
vegetation seems to feel quickening
in the air; the plants scent the coming
moisture weeks beforehand; the rush
| ing streams, swollen with the melting
SHOWS from the lower mountain tops,
bring life to the lands through which
they flow; spring is awakening every
where-except on the alkali plain.
| w ucIc tAlu AlAA VI I'M OAo"AA
grass roots partly covers the white
dust, parched mesquite bushes find
root, and strange, uncouth organ cacti
rear their columns, like mammoth can
delabra. Here wild eyed cattle roam
uneasily, nibbling occasionally at the
! bitter grass stems.
Farther out in the desert, where even
the mesquite and cacti fail, we ride
slowly across the parched surface,
wondering if a single living thing can
endure the bitterness of the earth. In
the distance move the whirlwinds of
dust, tall, thin columns with perfectly
distinct outlines. undulating slowly
here and there, both life and death in
their silent movement.
J Most remarkable it seems to us when
stray great blue heron now and then
flies silently up from the desert (what
can possibly attract these birds to such
a place Of death as this, distant even
from the bitter poolsD and flaps slowly
out of sight. Twice great ebony
raven sails through the dusty air over
, our heads-the same bird repassing.
No other life is visible save the bal
anced black specks high against the
blue, as invariably part of Mexican
day as are stars Of the night. Herons,
: vultures, raven-all move slowly, SEEM
ing less alive than the distant dust
: columns.
!, But we feel the real spirit of the
eternal desert when, as we turn to re-
trace our steps, we spy something
{ white, different from the surrounding
$ earth, and the spell Of past ages falls
q upon us. The bitter water is ever dry.
D ing up, the whirlwinds carry the dust
from place to place, the birds come
and go as they please, but this relic OF
an elephant Of the olden time brings
/, past and present into close touch.
: What scenes has the desert looked
upon since this mammoth staggered
S dying into the quaglnire which proved
}. its tomb? Our eyes smart from the
v dust as we reluctantly turn our horses
heads on the back trail, for we should
like to stay and search out these fos-
|, sils-more fascinating in way than
the living beasts and birds which peo-
v pie the tropics beyond.
One of the most wonderful Of the
exhibitions Of bird life vouchsafed to
us in Mexico comes as we leave the
IS aIkali plain and ride away among the
mesquite scrub. A confused mass OF
J black appears in the air, which soon re
n solves itself into hundreds of individ
ual specks. The atmosphere is so de
ceiving that what at first seems to be
ID vast cloud of gnats close at Ind II
= soon seen to be multitude Of IDS
blackbirds, perhaps, until we approach
70 and think them ravens and, finally
!, when a quarter of mile away, W.
- know that they are vultures. Three
burros lie dead upon the plain. TIM.
5 we knew yesterday, and here are thu
IS scavengers. Never have we seen vul
lures SO numerous or in such order.
te A careful scrutiny through the glass
es shows many score Of black and tur
key buzzards walking about and feed
ing upon the carcases Of the animals
s. From this point there extends upwar'
e. into the air a vast inverted cone o
.. birds, all circling in the same direction
From where we sit upon our horse
~ there seems not single one out O
+ place, the outline Of the cone being a
re smooth and distinct as though the bird
were limited in their fight to this PAL
>. ticular area. It is a rare sight. the SUI
!, lighting up every bird on the farthe
side and shadowing black as nigh
those nearest us.
Through ones partly closed eye
es the whole mass appears as myria
TX Of slowly revolving wheels, intersec
n ing and crossing each others orbit.
but never breaking their circular on
line. The thousands of soaring form
Sc hold US spellbound for minutes befor
in we rode closer. Now a change take
It. place, as gradual but as sure as til
to shifting clouds of sunset. Until til
moment there had been tendency
concentrate at the base of the con
that portion becoming blacker an
tn blacker, until it seemed solid mass {
ed rapidly revolving forms. But at OF
near approach, this concentrate
ceases and there is perfect equilibrium
- for time. Then, as we ride up gel
nv tie slope into clearer view, wonde
OK full ascent begins Slowly the creepir
spiral wings upward; the gigantic i
verified cone, still perfect in shape, lif
clear Of the ground and drifts ava
the summit rises in a curve, which, Ii
'e, tie by little, trays out into ragge
ell lines, all drifting in the same directio