36 FIELD MUSEUM or NATURAL HISTORY ZOOLOGY, VOL. X. 



miles directly into the forest, a clearing was made for the camp, and 

 short radiating trails cut in various directions, providing somewhat 

 greater possibilities of movement than beating one's way through the 

 undergrowth with a machete. The large forest trees, all of unfamiliar 

 species, lace their tops together at an average height of something 

 over 100 feet. Mists and drizzling rains prevail a great part of the 

 year and mosses, air plants, and climbing vines thrive, but the growth 

 in general is not so profuse as that of the hot tropics. A beautiful 

 climbing bamboo is exceedingly abundant, and graceful tree ferns raise 

 their spreading tops at pleasing intervals. 



After two weeks in the forest we returned to the hacienda, and 

 from there crossed the river and ascended the opposite slope on the 

 Venezuelan side. Here we stopped a approximately the same alti- 

 tude as at the former camp, but although heavy forest was readily 

 accessible, clearings and partly burned areas predominated. An indis- 

 tinct trail led upward to the cliffs of the summit of the paramo. A 

 visit to these was very disappointing, for although scattered thickets 

 and clumps of trees alternate with grassy openings and small ponds in 

 somewhat Alpine character, little sign of animal life appears. The 

 few birds seen were of species common at less elevation, and signs of 

 small mammals were entirely lacking. In the swamps and woods 

 about the camp, however, we obtained most of the species taken at the 

 other camp and a few additional ones. 



El Guayabal, March 12-17. The station of El Guayabal is a small 

 one on the railroad connecting Cucuta and Puerto Villamizar. It 

 serves only a very limited population engaged in farming and although 

 only some ten miles north of Cucuta, it is in a region of slightly different 

 character. This difference is not very pronounced and consists chiefly 

 in the presence at El Guayabal of some features indicating a slightly 

 more humid climate than that of Cucuta. That is, its character is 

 somewhat intermediate between that of Cucuta, where it is dry, and 

 that of Puerto Villamizar where it is relatively humid. 



At Cucuta conditions are very arid, except near the river and in 

 cultivated areas more or less under irrigation. Cacti and small thorny 

 shrubs are the dominant types of vegetation. At Puerto Villamizar, 

 on the other hand, there is heavy forest and luxuriant undergrowth. 

 In passing by train between the two places one observes that the 

 change from the arid type to the humid one is quite gradual. It has 

 only begun at El Guayabal and in general the birds and mammals 

 taken there belong to associations of species usually found in arid rather 

 than humid regions. During the few days spent there, collecting was 



