772 BIRDS OF CENTRAL MEXICO — JOUY. 



his kintluess, a gceneral letter of in trod action from liim to all officials 

 and others in the State, which proved of ^reat service to me.* 



From the city of San Luis, therefore, as headquarters, a number of 

 trips were made from time to time. One to Charcas, in the northern 

 part of the State, established the habitat of Aphelocoma cyanotis. 

 Through the courtesy of Senor Don Xavier Esjunosa, 1 was enabled to 

 visit the hacieiula Angostura, belonging to his family, which lies near 

 the station of San Bartolo on the Tampico Line; here a new form of 

 BasUcuierua rufifrons was obtained, together with other varieties. Griis 

 mcxicana was here numerous in December. Several species not else- 

 where obtained were collected at Solidad Don Carlos, a suburb of San 

 Luis; also at Ahualulco, a station 24 miles from the city on the Aguas 

 Calientes branch. Before leaving San Luis a trip was made to Lake 

 Patzcuaro, in Miehoacan, where fresh specimens of that interesting 

 bird, the Mexican Ja^ana, were obtained and forwarded to Washing- 

 ton, where they were mounted into a striking group for the U. S. 

 National Museum Exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition. 



From January 9 to July 12, 1892, was spent in or near the city of 

 Guadalajara, from whence numerous expeditions were made into the 

 country. The Barranca Ibarra, a favorite collecting ground, lay about 

 half a day's journey north of the city. This beautiful gorge, descend- 

 ing abruptly 1,500 feet, gave access to a quite varied and tropical 

 fauna and flora. Here grew and were cultivated the pineapple, banana 

 and the mango; and here also the coffee plant flourished; many sj^ecies 

 of birds found here were never seen on the plateau above, and collect- 

 ing would have been ideal if some of the tropical insect pests had not 

 also entered into this paradise. 



Other trips made from Guadalajara were to the falls of Juanacatlan, 

 the "Niagara of Mexico," to Lake Cliapala, reached from the station 

 Atequiza, where I found unaccountably poor collecting, and also to the 

 hacienda El Molino, which I visited through the kindness of Sefior 

 Don eTos6 Maria Negrete. This place, reached from the station Negrete, 

 is probably the best locality for the naturalist near Guadalajara. A 

 large, semi-wild garden planted with a great variety of trees and shrubs, 

 and well watered by means of irrigating ditches, proved to be a great 

 attraction for birds of all kinds. The proprietor, a gentleman who 

 Imd traveled in nearly all lands, was also a great lover of birds, and 

 kept several magnificent living specimens of the rare (iru.s americana, 

 said to have been taken in the country, as an ornamental feature of 

 his place. 



In the latter part of March a trip was made on horseback south of 



* In no comitry are letters of introduction more valuable than in Mexico. The 

 proximity to our wildest borders and the ease of ingress has flooded the country 

 with the worst A'arieties of tranips and adventurers, until the oft-deluded native has 

 come to regard all foreigners witli suspicion. The traveler intendiug to sjiend any 

 length of time in Mexico will, therefore, do well to provide himself with credentiala. 



