iSgo.'j Riker and Chapmax. Birds at Santarem, Brazil. I'll 



A LIST OF BIRDS OBSERVED AT SANTARFM, 



BRAZIL. 



BV CLARENCE H. RIKF.R. 



With Annotatiojis by Frank M. Chapman. 



In July, 1884, I visited Santarem, a town of 5000 inhabitants, 

 situated on the Amazon at the mouth of the Tapajos River. 500 

 miles from the ocean. I made a second trip in June, 1887, and 

 remained until the end of July.' At this season the easterly trade 

 winds blow constantly, tempering to a remarkable degree the in- 

 tense heat of the tropical sun. The two seasons, the wet and the 

 dry, are well defined : the dry period lasting from the middle of 

 Mas until the middle of November with but occasional showers. 

 The remainder of the year is characterized by almost constant 

 rain. 



During the dry season main- forest trees shed their leaves, and 

 the grass and small shrubs wither, while the palms and the 

 majority of other trees bear their fruit; a noticeable exception, 

 however, is the mango, the fruit of which matures in February. 

 The physical conditions of the location are peculiarly adapted to 

 a much diversified fauna. The city is located on a sandy bluff, 

 back of which, and extending about five miles, is a sandy campos 

 dotted here and there with clumps of bushes or small groves of 

 stunted trees. Hack of this again lies a belt of dense forest ex- 

 tending about three miles further to the cd'^v of a table-land 

 rising abruptly three hundred feet. This plateau extends to the 

 ^southeast for thirty miles without a stream to give variety to the 

 dense forest of giant trees. There are but few small ponds 

 within this forest region, so far as it has been explored, and dining 

 the dry season these mud-holes swarm with an abundance of 

 game. About these ponds, feeding upon the fruit of a palm 

 found growing only there, is the only place where I have ever seen 

 the great Blue Macaw (Ara hyacinthina) . The. plateau extends 

 about"""! s;o miles parallel with the Tapajos, and lying between it 

 and the river is the campos district, which is alternated with palm 

 swamps and a description of forest I have termed semi-palm, 

 being a mingling of the hard wood trees and the palms. At va- 

 rious points spurs of the table-land rise abruptly from the river. 



