36  Fretp Museum or Natura. History — Zoé.oey, Vor. X. 
miles directly into the forest, a clearing was made for the camp, and 
short radiating trails cut in various directions, providing somewhat 
greater possibilities of movement than beating one’s way through the 
undergrowth with a machete. The large forest trees, all of unfamiliar 
species, lace their tops together at an average height of something 
over 100 feet. Mists and drizzling rains prevail a great part of the 
year and mosses, air plants, and climbing vines thrive, but the growth 
in general is not so profuse as that of the hot tropics. A beautiful 
climbing bamboo is exceedingly abundant, and graceful tree ferns raise 
their spreading tops at pleasing intervals. 
After two weeks in the forest we returned to the hacienda, and 
from there crossed the river and ascended the opposite slope on the 
Venezuelan side. Here we stopped at approximately the same alti- 
tude as at the former camp, but although heavy forest was readily 
accessible, clearings and partly burned areas predominated. An indis- 
tinct trail led upward to the cliffs of the summit of the paramo. A 
visit to these was very disappointing, for although scattered thickets 
and clumps of trees alternate with grassy openings and small ponds in 
somewhat Alpine character, little sign of animal life appears. The 
few birds seen were of species common at less elevation, and signs of 
small mammals were entirely lacking. In the swamps and woods 
about the camp, however, we obtained most of the species taken at the 
other camp and a few additional ones. 
El Guayabal, March 12-17. The station of El Guayabal is a small 
one on the railroad connecting Cucuta and Puerto Villamizar. It 
serves only a very limited population engaged in farming and although 
only some ten miles north of Cucuta, it is in a region of slightly different 
character. This difference is not very pronounced and consists chiefly 
_ in the presence at El Guayabal of some features indicating a slightly 
more humid climate than that of Cucuta. That is, its character is 
somewhat intermediate between that of Cucuta, where it is dry, and 
that of Puerto Villamizar where it is relatively humid. 
At Cucuta conditions are very arid, except near the river and in 
cultivated areas more or less under irrigation. Cacti and small thorny 
shrubs are the dominant types of vegetation. At Puerto Villamizar, 
on the other hand, there is heavy forest and luxuriant undergrowth. 
In passing by train between the two places one observes that the 
change from the arid type to the humid one is quite gradual. It has 
only begun at El Guayabal and in general the birds and mammals 
taken there belong to associations of species usually found in arid rather 
than humid regions. During the few days spent there, collecting was 
