14 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The season was fall; many birds apparently had come down from 

 the mountains and migratory movement was still in progress. At 

 the same time we were far enough north to escape rigorous cold, so 

 that insect feeding species were present in numbers. A red-flowered 

 epiphyte {Psittacanthus) that formed brilliant patches of color, 

 visible in the trees for long distances, drew many hummingbirds, 

 among them a beautiful species with long tail {Sappho sapho). 



The night of April 14 we returned to Tafi Viejo, Tucuman, and 

 on the 16th visited Senor Budin in Tucuman. On April 17 we 

 climbed the Sierra San Xavier above Tafi Viejo, a mountain rising 

 to an altitude of 2,300 meters. The town lies at about 600 meters, 

 Avith small cultivated fields or chacras extending up a gradual slope 

 to the base of the hills at about 1,300 meters. At this point we en- 

 tered a steep-sided valley and traversed a trail that zigzagged up the 

 slopes through a heavy rain forest dense with creepers, ferns, and 

 parasitic plants, and with an undergrowth of huge nettles, other 

 soft-stemmed plants, and low shrubs. At about 1,800 meters on the 

 trail this forest terminated, though on southeast exposures it ran 

 up 250 meters farther. Beyond were openings, Avith grass waist 

 high, and groves of tree alder and other strange trees that formed 

 forest of another type in certain areas. At 2,100 meters tree growth, 

 except in sheltered gulches, gave way to rounded slopes covered with 

 bunch grass. Among such diverse habitats we obtained a number 

 of birds not seen before and regretted that our departure was im- 

 perative on the following day. 



In Tucuman, on April 18, we parted company and I returned to 

 Mendoza, where I arrived April 20. At 5 the following morning 

 I passed my baggage through the Argentine customs, and shortly 

 after left on the trans-Andean railroad for Valparaiso, Chile, where 

 [ arrived at midnight. Through Dr. Edwyn Eeed, to whom I was 

 indebted for many courtesies, I removed on April 23 to Concon, a 

 tiny settlement where the Rio Aconcagua enters the sea, going by 

 rail to Vina del Mar and by motor car to a little road house at Con- 

 con, where I arrived at 9 in the evening in a drenching rain. At 

 Concon the Aconcagua meandered through a level, fertile valley 

 with rounded hills grown with brush on either hand. A broad 

 gravel or sand beach lay on the ocean front, with rocky cliffs to the 

 south. The weather was cool but pleasant, and with the general 

 aspect of the country gave a strong reminder of California. On 

 April 29 I returned to Valparaiso, and on the following morning 

 embarked on the Grace Line steamer Santa Elisa for the States. 

 Stops were made at Antof agasta, Chile, May 2 ; Iquique, Chile, May 

 3; Mollendo, Peru, May 4; and Callao, Peru, May 6. On May 11 

 we passed through the Panama Canal, and May 18 arrived at New 

 York. On the following morning I again reached Washington. 



