338 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



ful at frequent intervals. Chicha, made from peanuts, 

 was also to be had at some of the dwellings. 



With the exception of the tracts cleared for cultivation, 

 and the bare sandstone summits, the country is covered 

 with light forest. There is practically no moss, but a dense 

 undergrowth of climbing bamboo and a few palms and ferns. 

 As a whole, the vegetation does not greatly resemble that 

 of the true subtropic or cloud-forest zone, and as this was 

 its upper limit and three thousand and five hundred feet 

 above sea-level, it should have been of the subtropic type, 

 if any exists in the region. We may, therefore, safely con- 

 clude that this marks the ending of the zone of cloud forest 

 existing on the eastern slope of the Andes during practically 

 their entire course north of this point. 



Birds were not very common, and of comparatively few 

 species; but the fauna is entirely different from that of the 

 uplands. The brilliant little tanagers (Calliste), so typical 

 of the mountain forest, are conspicuously absent. There 

 were, however, several kinds of warblers, and wrens, parrots, 

 and other birds properly belonging to such a region. A 

 black-and-white guan (Pipile) was really plentiful, and while 

 the distribution of the species is very great, I had always 

 considered it a rare bird. It is about twenty-eight inches 

 long, and of a bronzy-black color. The top of the head 

 and a large blotch on the wings are white; the naked cheeks 

 and a long throat-caruncle are of a delicate shade of grayish 

 blue. The bird's rasping cry may be heard morning and 

 evening, as it takes wing and alternately soars and flaps 

 from one tree to another, or skims over the top of the 

 forest. Adult birds weigh up to four pounds and are killed 

 for food on every possible occasion, as the flesh is very 

 good. The individuals I examined had been feeding on 

 green leaves swallowed whole. 



Jays hi flocks followed us about in the forest and kept 

 up a constant screaming and scolding. It was impossible 

 to escape them without using drastic measures. They were 

 a great nuisance, as their cries frightened other forms of 



