Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-08-16

OF MEXICO
HOW THESE BIRDS HUNT THE
ARID AlkAll PLAINS.

OUT ulWhkVlS we ullGHt ululVSt w
spending u night on the tundras.
With scarce u moment OF dawn the
sun floods everything, u most welcome
warmth for awhile, soon to make one
gasp In Its GREATNESS heat. Long be-
fore the rainy season actually begins
vegetation seems to feel a quickenlng
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
w~here-eXcept on the alkali plain.
Where. a thin rind Of red brown
grass roots partly covers the white
/ dust. parchcd mesquite bushes find
root, and strange, uncouth organ cacti
rear their columns, like mammoth can
dclabra. Here wild eyed cattle roam
rneasily. nibbling occasionally at the
litter grass stems.
Farther out In the desert. where even
the mesquite and cacti fail, we ride
slowly across the parched surface,
wondering II n 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.
Most remarkable II seems to us when
n 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 a 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 a part Of a 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 a something
white, different from the surrounding
earth, ana the spell of past ages falls
upon Us. The bitter water is ever dry
ing up, the whirlwinds carry the d st
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
dying into the quagmire which proved
its tomb? Our eyes smart from the
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 a way than
the living beasts and birds which peo-
pie the tropics beyond.
One of the most wonderful of the
exhibitions Of bird life vouchsafed to
us in Mexico m as we leave the
alkali plain and ride away among the
mesquite scrub. A confused mass Of
black appears in the air, which 500 re,
solves itself into hundreds Of individ'
ual specks. The atmosphere is so de-
ceiving that what at first seems to be a
vast cloud of gnats close at "A Is
soon seer to be a multitude of DIS
blackbirds, perhaps, until we approach
and think them ave and, finally.
when n quarter Of a mile away, we
know that they are vultures. Three
burros lie dead upon the plain. This
we knew yesterday. and here are the
s%cavengers. Never have we seen vul.
lures 30 numerous or In such order.
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.
From this point there extends upward
into the air a vast Inverted cone OF
birds. all circling In the same direction.
From where we sit upon u horses
there seems not a single one out OF
place. the outline OF the cone being rs
smooth and distinct MS though the birds
were limited IN their flight TO this par
ticular area. 1t IL a rare sight. the
lighting up every bird on the farthe,
side and shadoying black as night
those nearest lis.
Through ones partly closed eyes
the whole mass appears as a myriad
Of slowly revolving wheels. intersect-
ing and crossing each others orbits,
but never breaking their circular out
line. The thousands of soaring forms
hold us s%pellbound for minutes before
we rode closer. Now a change takes
place, us gradual but as m as the
shifting clouds Of a sunset. Until this
moment there had been a tendency tc
concentrate at the base Of the cone
that portion becoming blacker and
blacker. until il seemed a solid mass OF
rapidly revolving forms. But at oui
neal approach. this concentration
ceases and there il perfect equilibrium
for a time. Then. as we ride up a gen
tie slope into clearer view. a wonder
full ascent begins. Slowly the creeping
spiral wings upward; the gigantic in
verted cone. still perfect in shape, lifts
clear Of the ground and drifts away
the summit rises in a curve, which. lit
tie by little. trays out into ragged
lines. all drifting in the same direction
and before our very eyes the thousands
of birds merge into a shapeless, undu
lating cloud. which rises and rises