I 7 2 Riker AxVD Chapmax, Birds at Santa rem, B razil. [April 



Diamantina, the settlement at which I was located, is eight 

 miles from Santarem, and four miles from the Amazon. At the 

 foot of the plateau, or 'mountain' as locally termed, an arm of the 

 Amazon, called the Igarapi Mahica, runs within two miles of 

 the settlement, and during the rainy season, expands into a 

 vast lake embracing many square miles of palm forest. 



Devoting most of my efforts to the mountain and semi-palm 

 forest, spending but few days near the water, and but three days 

 collecting on the campos, I can account for the absence in my 

 collection of many species recorded by others as very common at 

 Santarem ; the bulk of most collections having been made about 

 the campos and adjacent forest. The very striking contrast 

 between the fauna of these belts is at once noticeable ; the great 

 number of birds which one would meet in a morning's outing 

 slio wed that they were each inhabited by a characteristic group. 

 The same contrast is manifest in the distribution of the lepidop- 

 tera, of which I also collected a series. 



There are sugar-cane fields and clearings on the 'mountain' 

 corresponding to those of the low lands, and offering all the 

 attractions for the congregation of small birds, Flycatchers, 

 Hawks, etc., yet the altitude of 300 feet and distance of less than 

 a mile, seem a barrier over which many species never cross. 

 Many species of Toucans and Parrots, and both Cassicus and 

 Ostinops, are found commonly in both localities. 



The abundance or scarcity of a large number of species I found 

 subject to daily fluctuation, dependent upon the presence of the 

 army ant or some fruit suddenly ripening, there being scarcely 

 two consecutive days when birds could be found plentifully on 

 the same feeding ground. 



Tanagra palmar 7im, Tanagra episcopus, Cassicus persicus. 

 Ostinops decumanus^ and some species of Doves and Parrots, 

 migrate morning and night to and from feeding grounds, in flocks, 

 varying from a dozen of Parrots to thousands of Cassicus. 



With but few exceptions birds were remarkably unsuspicious 

 and easy of approach, but the density of the vegetation affords 

 them excellent opportunities for concealment, and leads the col- 

 lector too close for the successful use of the gun, it being a difficult 

 matter to retreat to fair shooting distance without losing sight of 

 the bird. I have seen a score of Parrots alight in a tree and, after 

 searching in vain, have in despair risked a shot at a moving 

 bough 



