the valley of the Rio Grande. Not a living object,
with the exception of wasps and beetles, can be seen; everything appears
dull and dead. The thunder roars in the distance.

And yet there is life of a higher order. Two ravens stalk about in an
earnest, dignified manner. The birds look exceedingly and comically
serious. Their plumage glistens in the subdued light of the sun. They
look out for themselves, and care nothing for the remainder of creation.
So deeply are they imbued with a sentiment of their own exceptional
position in the realm of nature, that they pay no attention to another
phase of life that shows itself near by, though not conspicuously.

Over the surface of the mesa are seen here and there almost
imperceptible elevations destitute of vegetation. In these slight
swellings, apertures are visible. Out of the latter the head of a small
animal occasionally protrudes, disappears again, or rises displaying a
pair of shovel-like front teeth. Then a worm-like body pushes up from
below, and a yellowish figure, half squirrel, half marmot, stands erect
on the hillock, and utters a sharp, squealing bark. This barking is
answered from a neighbouring protuberance. From each hillock one of
these little animals crawls down; and meeting one another half-way, they
stand up facing each other, scratch and bite for a moment, then
separate and return to their respective cave-dwellings. Other similar
creatures wriggle about in the vicinity; the shrill barking sounds far
and near. A colony of so-called prairie dogs dwells in the
neighbourhood.

To this exhibition of animal life the ravens pay no attention whatever.
It is beneath their notice; their aims are of a higher order than those
of beings who live upon roots and who burrow for their abode. They live
on prey that is far above the simple products of animal industry.
Carrion is what they aspire to. Therefore they aspire with a lofty mien,
prying and peering in every direction for something fallen. They are not
far from the eastern brink of the mesa, where the volcanic flow breaks
off suddenly in short, abrupt palisades. Who knows what their keen eyes
may have espied along that brink?

Another actor appears upon the scene, a prairie wolf, or coyote;
consequently a rival, a competitor of the ravens; for he is in the same
business. But he belongs to a higher order; for while the ravens are
scavengers, the coyote is a hunter as well. He would even prey upon the
birds themse