24 BULLETIX 155j UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSETTM 



Drawn by memories of his earlier visit in L883, Doctor Abbott re- 

 turned to the Samana Bay region in the Dominican Republic toward 

 the end of July. 1916, and on July 26 began collecting birds near 

 Samana, a town of about two thousand inhabitants on the shore of 

 Samana Bay. The population here is descended in Large part from 

 negroes, the majority of whom speak English, come from the United 

 States from 1822 to 18:24 during the regime of President Hover of 

 Haiti. The region is hilly, and fairly well wooded in spite of the 

 considerable country population. From July 28 to 30 Doctor Abbott 

 was at San Lorenzo on the south side of Samana Day. where 

 precipitous limestone hills, honey-combed with caves, descend ab- 

 ruptly to the sea. (PI. 13.) Here he camped in one of the caves 

 which he noted was floored with shell middens and contained many 

 Indian carvings. From August 6 to 14 he collected at Laguna, a set- 

 tlement of scattered houses belonging mainly to English speaking 

 people near the southern base of the hill called Pilon d'Azuear. 

 distant about 8 kilometers inland from Samana. There was much 

 virgin forest here with few inhabitants to the north until the coast 

 was reached because of lack of water. On August 17 he crossed to 

 San Juan Bay on the northern side of the peninsula, and on August 

 26 collected at Rojo Cabo, a short distance inland from the south 

 shore of Bahia de Rincon, and at La Galera on the bay itself. The 

 land here was rough and stony. On August 29 and 30 he was at Rojo 

 Cabo. and on September 9 to 10 crossed again to San Lorenzo. 



Following this Doctor Abbott undertook one of the most important 

 journeys connected with his work on the island, his first visit to the 

 groat interior valley of Constanza. Proceeding by way of La Vega, 

 on September 20 he was at the small settlement of El Rio on the up- 

 per waters of the Rio Jimenoa at about 1200 meters altitude. (PI. 15.) 

 From September 22 to October 2 he was located at Constanza about 



25 kilometers beyond El Rio. an old settlement in a broad, open valley 

 at about 1200 meters elevation with mountains rising on either side 

 600 meters higher. (Pis. 14 and 15.) The waters of the valley of 

 Constanza drain into the Rio Yaqui del Stir. The Rio Jimenoa at El 

 Rio is an affluent of the Rio Yaqui del Norte, and the Rio Tireo, 

 whose valley is crossed on the trail from El Rio to Constanza, is a 

 tributary of the Yuna. The region thus is an important water-shed. 

 The village of Constanza in 1010 had about eighty houses, and about 

 1000 people were resident in the region. The rounded hills bordering 

 the valley were covered with forests of open pine mingled with areas 

 of dense rain forest. (PI. 4.) On this expedition he secured the first 

 specimens of the crossbill (Loxia megaplaga), the song sparrow 

 (Brachyspiza capensis an^Ularum) , and the eared owl (Asio stygius 

 nocttpctanx) gaining thus an insight into the strange highland avi- 



