136 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1947 



report is of much interest. It shows what others, who are much more 

 versed in zoology, can expect to find. And since these animals on the 

 island are as nature has them, not in cages, but in the open, to see and 

 observe them is to know them as they really are. To the ecologist, to 

 the student of animal behavior, to the general naturalist, it is to see, 

 smell, hear, feel, and touch that which is life. It is something that 

 books can only feebly portray. We have the orderly sequence of ex- 

 ternal nature, we have the living organism moving about in this 

 environment inhabited by other species, and we have that continuous 

 adjustment which constitutes life. 



This is what Lundy saw in but 3 days : 10 bands of howler monkeys, 

 3 of the white capuchins, 2 of marmosets. He saw any number of the 

 coatimundi, peccary, squirrels, 2 deer, many nequi, 1 tayra, and best of 

 all, 1 night monkey (Goldman's Aotus zo7ialis). He came across 10 

 "armies" of army ants, and one huge bivouac of these most interesting 

 ants. Among the birds he saw large numbers of toucans, parrots, and 

 guans, also the tinamou, pileated woodpeckers, ant-shrikes, motmots, 

 two king vultures, many of the other vultures, the scarlet-capped mani- 

 kin, Ghiesbrecht's hawk, and others. Among the insects, perhaps the 

 most spectacular were the large metallic blue Morpho butterflies, 

 another butterfly with transparent front wings and pink hind wings, 

 and the graceful large "helicopter" dragonfly. 



COMMENTS or SCIENTISTS 



"Life at the Island was a pleasant experience and I am telling my 

 associates about conditions there. It seems to me to be an ideal place 

 for the conduct of experimental studies of many types, and I would 

 like to thank you for the opportunity to work there. The research 

 station is certainly a well-run place." — Dr. James B. Hamilton. 



"My report is incomplete, of course, since it includes no statement 

 of how thrilling and how great a privilege it was to return to the island 

 to continue my work where I left it off, to meet and talk with you 

 again, and to enjoy once more directly the countless emotional and 

 perceptual satisfactions that come from hiking and strolling around, 

 and from just standing in the many well-remembered landmarks, 

 probably I had best leave the sentimental part of the return unsaid ; at 

 least the above sentence is sufficiently full of rushing verbal chaos to 

 represent how I felt on February 7, 1946, and all of the days I was 

 there."— Dr. T. C. Schneirla. 



"The severity of conditions conductive to deterioration and the ex- 

 cellent facilities for scientific study, make the island an ideal location 

 for such investigations." — Joseph Kowal. 



"As for the Naval Medical Kesearch Institute, the island would be a 

 most useful proving ground for many of the things developed here. 



