306 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1921. 



Nacional, one or the other of whom, sometimes both, accompanied 

 me on every trip. It was through the help of these two gentlemen, 

 both excellent ornithologists and unexcelled as companions in the 

 field, that it was possible to make collecting trips to points that 

 would otherwise have been inaccessible to me. Headquarters during 

 our stay in Costa Rica were a commodious and perfectly appointed 

 house, with all modern conveniences, the home of old friends, in 

 the outskirts of the capital, at the edge of a beautiful parklike ex- 

 panse called La Sabana (The Savanna), connected with the city 

 by trolley. Set in ample grounds which were decorated by the 

 choicest flowering trees and shrubs of the tropics and such roses as 

 are never seen in a less genial climate — teas and hybrid-teas of 

 every variety, from which large basketfulls of exquisite flowers 

 could be gathered the year around — tropical fruits of all sorts, and, 

 what seemed most strange, a kitchen garden wherein grew, to per- 

 fection, most of our northern vegetables almost alongside of pine- 

 apples, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, grenadillas, sapotes, 

 aguacates, papayas, and other purely tropical fruits — altogether an 

 ideal home, but one reflecting the cultivated taste of our generous 

 host and charming hostess. 



From La Sabana excursions were made in many directions; to 

 the volcanoes which form the culminating points of the central Cor- 

 dillera; to the Pacific coast at Pigres, where the Gulf of Nicoya 

 merges with the ocean; to Santo Domingo de San Mateo, then the 

 terminus of the Ferrocarril al Pacifico, since extended to the coast 

 at Punta Arenas; to near the base of Turubales, southeast of Santo 

 Domingo ; to Escasu, at the northern base of the Cerro de la Cande- 

 laria, and Monte Redondo, a coffee estate on the opposite side of that 

 range; and on the Atlantic or Caribbean side, to the haciendas 

 Bonilla, Guayabo, and Coliblanco on the southeastern side of the 

 volcano of Turrialba; to El Paraiso, at the base of the cinder-cone 

 of Turrialba, and San Juan on the southern slope of Irazii, above 

 Cartago. 



These excursions, together with many minor trips, afforded ample 

 opportunity for studying the natural history of the country at close 

 range. All trips not made by rail were, necessarily, made on horse- 

 back, the use of wheeled vehicles being confined to the few cart roads 

 connecting the various centers of population. One trip (the second 

 one from Santo Domingo to Pigres and return, a distance of about 

 18 miles each way) was made on foot. 



It would be impossible to describe in a limited space everything 

 seen that is worthy of description ; to do so would require a full vol- 

 ume. For obvious reasons, therefore, the following observations will 



