no A YEAR OF COSTA RICAN NATURAL HISTORY 



into two forks, the right going to the highest point of the 

 volcano eventually while the left led to the lower western 

 parts of the mountain. The land on each side of the road was 

 all open, either as pastures or fields of maize; there was con- 

 sequently nothing to obstruct the view and one could see 

 far in nearly all directions. It is a beautiful country and 

 would be well worth a visit of several weeks. 



A number of bright-colored butterflies were flying about 

 this road on July 12. At places were many guitite trees 

 with clusters of tiny pale greenish-white flowers along the 

 smaller branches. These flowers were very attractive to 

 bees, butterflies and some day-flying moths. Among the 

 latter was a handsome species {Uranidia fulgejis) with wings 

 shaped as in the Papllio butterflies and long tails to the hind 

 pair of wings. The wings are black crossed by bars of me- 

 tallic green, and the tails just mentioned are edged with 

 white near their tips. Each front wing is one and one-half 

 inches long, each hind one, including the half-inch tail, two 

 inches. The appearance and manner of flight of this moth 

 are so butterfly-like that for long after we came to Cartago 

 I was deceived by It and thought that some of them must 

 be butterflies. There were also humming-birds of several 

 species around these guitites, doubtless feasting on insects 

 attracted by the flowers. Sweet violets, purple and mixed 

 purple and white, were numerous on the roadside banks. In 

 hedges between fields and along the road near Tierra Blanca 

 were a number of shrubs fifteen to twenty feet high, having 

 rather dull green, cordate leaves about six inches long and 

 in April bearing large clusters of soft orange berries one- 

 eighth inch in diameter. The plant was called "Ortiga" In 

 Tierra Blanca, probably the ortlga referred to Urera cara- 

 casana by Pittler. 



By following the left or western fork of the road one 

 reached the Rio Reventado, at that point a small stream 



