The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1905-06-23
VULTURES OF MEXICO
HOW THESE BIRDS HAUNT THE ARID
AlkAll PLAINS.
The WhfrrinE Black Cone at Eager
Desert scsvenEers and the Way In
which the CirciinE Mass Descends
Upon Its Carrion Prey.

Il
| 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, a most welcome
| warmth for awhile soon 10 make one
| gagp In its breathless heat. Long be
fore the rainy season actually begins
| vegetation seems 10 feel qulckening
| 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 10 the lands through which
| they flow; spring Is awakening every
vhere-except on the alkali plain.
Where thin rind Of red brown
grass roots partly covers the white
dust, parched mesquite bushes find
root. aud strange, Uncouth organ cacti
rear their columns, like mammoth can
delabra. Here wild eyed cattle roam
uneaslly, nibbling occasionally at the
bitter grass stems.
Farther ont In the desert, where even
the mesquite and cacti fail, we ride
slowly across the parched surface,
wondering II single living thing can
endure the bitterness of earth. In
| the distance move the irlwinds OF
dust. tall. thin columns with perfectly
distinct outlines. undulatlng 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 sucb
n place OF death as this. distant even
from the bitter pools p and flaps slowly
out Of sight. Twice great ebony
raven sails through the dusty air over
our heads the same bird rcpassing.
| No other life Is visible save the bal
snced black specks high against the
blue. ms invariably part OF II Mexican
day as are stars of the night. Ilerons,
yultures. 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 10 re
trace our steps, we spy something
| white. different from the surrounding
earth. and the spell OF past ages falls
npon us. The bitter water IL ever dry
ing I'D the whlrlwinds carry the dust
from place 10 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
diving into the Quagmlre which proved
| it's 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 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
ms I'm Mexico comes as we leave the
alka,i plain and ride away among the
mesquite scrub. 4 confused mass of
black appears in the air, which soon re
solves itself into hundreds of individ.
ual specks The atmosphere Is so de-
| celying that what at first seems to he
vast cloud OF gnats close at hand Is
soon seen TO he multitude Of birds -
blackbirds, perhaps, until we approach
and think them ravens and, finally,
when n quarter of mile away, we
know that they are yulturcs. Three
burros lie dead upon the plain. This
L "A hn
Scavengers. Never have we seen vul-
lures so 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 cnrcascs of the animals.
From this point there extends upward
into the air vast inverted cone OF
birds, all cirCling I'm the same direction.
| From where we sit upon our horses
there seems not n single one out of
| place, the outline Of the cone being aS
smooth and distinct as though the birds
were, limited in their flight TO this par
| ucular area. II Is a rare sight the sun
| lighting UP every bird on the farther
side and shadowIng black rs night
| those nearest us.
Through ones partly closed eyes
the whole mass appears "A a myriad
OF slowly revolving wheels, interScct-
ing and crossing each others orbits.
hut never breaking their circular out
| line. The thousands OF soaring forms
hold us Spellbound for minutes before
we rode closer. Now change takes
| place. as gradual but rs sure as the
shifting clouds Of n sunset Until this
| moment there had been tendency 10
concentrate at the base of the cone,
| that portion becoming hlaCker and
| blacker, until IL seemed solid mass of
| rapidly revolving forms. But at our
near approach, this concentration
ceases and there Is perfect equilibrium
for time. Then. as we ride UP n gen
| tie slope into clearer view. wonder
| ful ascent begins. Slowly the creeping
| spiral wings upward; the gigantic In
verted cone. still perfect I'm shape. lifts
clear OF the ground and drifts away:
| lhe summit rises in curve. which. lit
tie 10y little trays out into ragged
lines. all drifting I'm the same direction,
| and before our very eyes the thousands
~ birds merge into shapelcss. undu.
lating cloud. which rises and rises.
spreading ont more and more until the
eye can no longer distinguish the birds,
which from yultures dwindlc to mere
notes floating aud lost among the
| clouds.-C. William Reebe I'm New