NOVITATES Z(30L0GICAE. 



Vol. V. DECEMBER, 1898. No. 4. 



ON A COLLECTION OF BIEUS FEOM NOKTH- WESTERN 



ECUADOR, 



COLLECTED BY MR. W. F. H. R08ENBERG. 



By EENST HAIiTERT. 



(Plates li. and 111.) 



''I^HIS collectiou is of great interest, as it adds somewliat to our scanty knowledge 

 -L of the unhealthy valleys and mountains of North- Western Ecuador. The 

 collection is not a very large one, as Blr. Rosenberg collected not only birds, but 

 rather more insects and other things ; brit it contains a fair number of species, and 

 among them some very interesting new forms. A close zoogeographical relationshij) 

 between these parts and South- Western ( 'olombia is shown by tbis collection, and 

 most evidently by such forms as Turdiis dayaae Bcrlp., Ayyrtriu roxenherqi reini 

 (Berlp.), C'l-primidgus rosenbergi Hart., Pionopsitta pulchra Berlp., and others. 

 Among the Humming-Birds are some interesting forms, but on the whole Mr. 

 Rosenberg has not been especially lucky in this family. 



The notes which precede my article are kindly supplied by Mr. Rosenberg. 

 They will be of interest as showing the nature of the country where he collected, 

 and may be of use to some future explorer. Cachavi, a village in the midst of 

 large forests, in low country in the west, is a most interesting place, most of the 

 new and rarest species having been found there. 



My thanks are due to my kind friend Count von Berlepsch, who has given me 

 many hints and heli)s for this article. 



I. NOTES ON THE LOCALITIES WHERE THE COLLECTION 



WAS MADE. 



Cachavi is u small village situated on the river of that name, on the north- 

 west coast of Ecuador ; it does not contain more than four or five houses, and 

 is inhabited by negroes, like all the villages on the river. The Rio Cachavi is 

 only navigable for small canoes, the current being extremely swift, and its course 

 being full of rapids. At times it is so dry in places that the canoes have to be 

 dragged along the banks for long distances, whilst on the other hand it is often 

 flooded to such an extent that navigation is imjiossible. Dr. Theodore Wolf, in his 

 magnificent work Gcoiirafia y Geolotfia del Ecwulor, says that there is j)erliaps 

 no other river in the province of Esmeraldas which presents eijual difficulties of 

 navigation. 



About a mile and a half above Coucepcion (the most important settlement in 



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