J^SVCHF. 
[ February 
be said of its inhabitants, who seem to consider it an honor to assist the collector 
in every way. In this town 1 resided until July 25th., when circumstances com- 
pelled me to leave suddenly, much against my will, as my collections were as yet 
far from complete. During my stay, however, I secured specimens of all the 
butterflies observed, with the exception of a Morpho, an Opsiphanes C> ), a 
Papilio, a Urania, and Cnlaenis juUa\ but I am confident that more extended re- 
searches, over parts of the island which I was unable to visit, will bring to light 
many additions to the following list, and it is much to be desired that sometime 
in the future, others, profiting by the experience of Captain Robinson and myself, 
will visit this interesting locality and make a much more exhaustive report on its 
entomological fauna. 
The island of Margarita is situated midway between La Guaira and Trinidad, 
directly north of the town of Cumana, being about seventeen miles distant from 
the nearest point of the mainland. Its greatest length from east to west is forty- 
two miles. It consists of two portions, joined by a narrow swampy isthmus of 
about twelve miles in length, the eastern part being the larger, in the shape, 
roughly, of a pentagon, some twenty miles across, while the western is an irregu- 
lar quadrangle, twelve miles long by nine in width. In the eastern part there is 
a mountain of 3,240 feet altitude, thickly wooded almost to the base; in the west- 
ern another rises to the height of 2,300 feet, but is practically barren.* At the 
time of my visit the only way of reaching the island was to take a small trading 
vessel from Carupano or Cumana, which ports could be easily reached by the boats 
of the French or Dutch West India Mail. Now, however, the boats of the Royal 
Mail Steam Packet Company, plying fortnightly between Barbados and La Guaira 
call in at both Carupano and Porlamar, Margarita. 
Margarita is divisible into three well defined life zones, as follows: 
I. The almost flat costal plain, which extends all about the island occupying a 
strip averaging tw'O or three miles in width, hot and sandy, supporting only a very 
scanty vegetation, which consists of post and melon cactus, with patches of 
“tuna,”** and scattering thorn-trees. I saw no butterflies whatever in this 
region; but among birds the burrowing owls ( Speotyto ) are exclusively found 
here, and the troupial ( Iderus ), scaled Dove {Si-anlafella ) Buzzard ( Buteo), 
and parrakeet ( Connrns ) prefer it to any other. Here also I found the trail of a 
rattle-snake ( Croialus ) which appears to be quite rare, as all the natives assured 
me that they never had seen a snake on the island, and I found no trace of others 
in all my wanderings. The armadillo is reported to occur in this district. 
II. The intermediate zone, consisting of a rough hilly countrv, with a large 
* A map of the island was published in the Proceedings U. S. National Museum. XVlll. pi. XXXIII. 
**A small, long-spined prickly pear, Opuntia tuna. 
