Birds of Columbia. 119 



In one of these valleys Ocana (which we intended to make 

 our headquarters while we explored the country round) is situ- 

 ated, standing at about 3700 feet above the level of the sea. 



Through the kindness of Senor Quin, to whom I had a 

 had a letter of introduction, a house looking into the Plaza 

 was taken for us half an hour after our arrival, and a young 

 man^s services procured to load and feed the mules, and to 

 make himself generally useful during our expeditions. Our 

 arrival was quite an event to the good people of Ocana ; and 

 how the two Englishmen came and took the house on the Plaza, 

 and did nothing but shoot little birds for nearly a month, will 

 probably be long remembered by them. 



I would here venture to recommend any future visitor to 

 Columbia to take a goodly supply of preserved meat from 

 England. Beef, such as it is, can be obtained at places like 

 Ocana and Bucaramanga ; but to cook it entails a great many 

 difficulties, and it is only just palatable when done ; and while 

 visiting the best parts of the country, or going from town to 

 town, which often takes a fortnight or more, preserved meat is 

 absolutely necessary. A plantain and a little Indian corn 

 makes a pretty good dinner for a Columbian muleteer, but is 

 hardly sufficient for a hungry Englishman. But I must apolo- 

 gize for this digression. 



The country around Ocana is very bare and desolate ; but the 

 banks of small streams, which occur here and there, are gene- 

 rally fringed with vegetation. One of these streams runs past 

 Ocaiia, and supplies it with water. By the side of it we shot 

 a good many birds, amongst which were three species of Hum- 

 ming-birds. These, however, were not in good plumage. The 

 nesting-season was just over, and there were a great many 

 young birds. This was about the middle of January. By the 

 beginning of February they were in better plumage. We had 

 an opportunity while here of seeing the Humming-bird feeding 

 its young, which is performed in the same way as it is by a 

 Pigeon. A young Chlorostilbon Imberlini was sitting on a 

 coffee-shrub, which grew under a large tree, around the blos- 

 soms of which the Humming-birds congregated. The old bird 

 came, and, having first swallowed the foocj herself, ejected it 



