PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 383 



Gulf of Nicoya, I found it necessary to go to San Jos^, the capital, to 

 present certain letters of introduction and confer with Seiior Don Jose 

 Zeledon, of that city, as to the best disposition of the short time at my 

 disposal. This gentleman strongly advised me to spend some time col- 

 lecting in the interior, more especially in the region of the volcano 

 '' Irazu," and I accordingly decided to spend a fortnight there; also, a 

 few days in San Jose, after which I returned to the coast and sf>ent a 

 mouth in collecting in the region of the Gulf of Nicoya. These three 

 fields of operation, embracing as they did the three distinctive avi-faunte 

 of low, middle, and high altitudes, seemed to me to be most likely to 

 afibrd a representative collection of Costa Rican birds. 



The collections from the interior having not yet been received, it be- 

 came necessary to defer lists of the species therein included, but which, 

 it is hoped, may be presented within a reasonable time. 



The Gulf of Nicoya extends from northwest to southeast, and is 60 

 or 80 miles long, dotted with numerous conical islands (the largest be- 

 ing San Lucas, a convict island), and encircled by low hills closely 

 covered with tropical vegetation. 



La Palma, the hacienda of Don Eamon Espinach, was my home dur- 

 iug my stay in that region, and it is to the courtesy of its kind pro- 

 prietor that I owe whatever success has attended my visit there. Noth- 

 ing could be more generous than his conduct toward me, an utter 

 stranger, and it is with the greatest pleasure that 1 embrace this op- 

 portunity to express my sincere thanks, not only for a pleasant home 

 for more than a month, but also for much practical assistance in the 

 way of furnishing horses and men and all other facilities to aid my ex- 

 plorations and increase my collections. La Palma is situated about 10 

 miles northwest of Colorado, a little hamlet on the northern coast of 

 the gulf. 



The region is an exceedingly low one, and in the rainy season be- 

 comes a vast swamp, unhealthy and infested with numerous insects. 

 My visit was at the end of the dry season, at which time the earth 

 was exceedingly dry and hard, and checkered with deep cracks caused 

 by the intense heat of the tropical sun. 



Notwithstanding the fierce heat, the forests were green and the flowers 

 were blooming luxuriantly, while birds and other animals were extremely 

 abundant. The vegetation is, of course, entirely tropical in its nature. 

 Among the fruit trees the palm, mango, plantain, bauaua, orange, and 

 "maraiion" are worthj^ of mention. This latter fruit I do not remember 

 to have seen elsewhere. The fruit resembles a red pepper with a bean- 

 shaped seed hanging from its lower end. The taste is slightly acid and 

 very pleasant. 



The rubber, red-wood, and mahogany trees are also abundant, 

 although a market for them has not been opened in that region. The 

 forests are composed of other strictly tropical trees, bound together and 

 interlaced with a network of vines of every description and covered 



