588 The Philippine Journal of Science ~ 4921 
so much water during rainy weather that all except very limited 
travel along the coast is rendered impossible. 
With few exceptions there are high beaches of sand or gravel 
from San José de Buenavista to Pandan. Above high tide there 
is a scanty growth of strand plants among which a species of 
Pandanus is the most conspicuous. A short distance inland 
the land is usually lower than the beach and supports groves of 
coconuts or, near the mouths of some rivers, nipa palms. From 
this coastal strip to the hills there are level areas of varying 
width on which rice, sugar cane, and corn are grown. The 
forest has been stripped from the lower hills; here rice and 
corn are grown without irrigation and, in many places, on ex- 
tremely steep and rocky ground. When one of these areas is 
not replanted, it becomes covered with a thick growth of tall 
grass. Occasional patches of forest can be seen on many hills. 
When one of these is examined, it is found that the trees and 
shrubs are growing on very steep hillsides or among bowlders 
of extremely rough coral crag. Progress through the latter type 
of forest is slow and tiresome and not without danger, for deep 
holes are often hidden by the leaves of the undergrowth. Bird 
collecting in this forest, except along paths, is useless, as the 
entire attention is required to secure safe footing. : 
The higher hills, which may be called mountains because of 
their steep slopes and broken sky line, in the vicinity of Culasi 
are well forested, and the summits are usually narrow ridges 
on which the mossy type of forest grows, down to about 900 
meters’ altitude. Chickadees, nuthatches, Rhipidura albiventris, 
Edolisoma panayensis, and Culicicapa helianthea were found in 
this forest, but fog was so prevalent that not a single clear 
day of observation was had. 
The maps of this region are somewhat indefinite and incom- 
plete with regard to the mountains. In Tibiao and in Culasi 
the highest elevation of a long range was pointed out as Mount 
Madjaas; this seems to be considered the highest mountain in 
this region, and it is probably the one marked Madia-4s on 
old maps. Because of weather conditions I could not see if 
there were other mountains higher than the one called Madjaas. 
An attempt was made to reach the summit of Madjaas from 
Flores by climbing a steep spur on the northeast side. At 
about 1,000 meters this became a knifelike ridge covered with 
typical mossy forest through much of which it was necessary to 
clamber on hands and knees. At about 1,500 meters a thicket 
of high coarse grass was encountered through which it would 
