P.N.E.Z.C. 
18 BANGS — CHIRIQUI BIRDS Vol. III 
full of tanagers and warblers. This zone extends up to about 
5000 feet. Between 5000 and 8000 feet another change in the 
bird life is noticed, but not so marked a one. 
“ At 10,000 feet the character of the forest changes decidedly, 
the trees become low and stunted, their trunks and branches are 
thickly covered with cold, saturated moss. On some of the 
branches globular formations of moss give an odd appearance to 
the tree. The undergrowth is chiefly of berry-bearing shrubs and 
two species of cane, with ferns and flowering herbs. One shrub 
produces a berry about the size of a cherry, which has a rich 
flavor, and of which doves and the big Merula |M. nigrescens] 
are very fond. At 11,000 feet the forest ends, and at the timber 
line the characteristic species are the Junco [/unco vulcani], a big- 
footed finch [/ezapetes capitalis|, the long-tailed ptilogonys and a 
curious little wren with peculiar notes, that lives in the cane 
brakes [Zroglodytes browni|. The country is open, broken, 
barren and very rocky, but there is a growth of low huckleberry- 
like shrubs that average ten inches in height and are literally 
black with berries. There are also low flowering plants, and 
some tiny ferns, different from any seen below. 
“Standing up high above this desolate region is the great rocky 
peak of Mt. Chiriqui, which I believe I am the only man to have 
climbed. The summit is a towering rock, its extreme point so 
sharp and narrow that I had to straddle it. Under one foot was 
a sheer fall of some nine hundred feet, under the other a sharp 
slope of six or seven hundred. I found no signs of any previous. 
ascent, but left two records of my own visit. From the top I 
looked down on the waters of the Caribbean Sea and of the Pacific 
Ocean, seeing distinctly the indentations of both coasts. To the 
west I could see the Costa Rican Mountains, and to the east 
stretched an ocean of small peaks. My aneroid registered 
Tis OCrita« 
In identifying the species in the collection I have been much 
assisted by Dr. Robert Ridgway, Mr. E. W. Nelson and Mr. H. 
C. Oberholser, to all of whom I express my sincerest thanks, as 
well as to the authorities of the National Museum, the Biological 
Survey and the Boston Society of Natural History, for allowing 
