326 Zoologica : A^. Y. Zoological Society. [I ; 18 



being strongly demarcated, as they are in the highlands. There 

 are occasional periods of greater precipitation, and at these 

 seasons there may be several days of continuous rainfall, with- 

 out intermission. 



The country about Guapiles is fairly level, with a gentle 

 northward slope. Once the greatest of Costa Rican banana dis- 

 tricts, its usefulness in that direction was destroyed by the 

 inroads of a blight which destroyed the growing fruit. When 

 it appeared useless to combat this trouble longer, the plantations 

 were levelled and the land given over to cattle producing. The 

 pastures are of considerable extent, running back on both sides 

 of the railroad from one to two miles, where the forest com- 

 mences. 



The pastures or potreros, are very rough in character, con- 

 stant effort being necessary to keep the bush from reclaiming 

 its own. Each stream is marked by a line of trees and bushes, 

 'often extending into bits of very tangled jungle, and scattered 

 trees are numerous. Each pasture is divided ffom the next by 

 fences of barbed wire. As dead posts are unable to withstand 

 for long the continual rain, small stakes of a softwood tree are 

 used. These stakes begin to sprout almost at once and soon 

 reach a height of fifteen to twenty feet. They thus form perm- 

 anent fence-posts and their thick foliage provides the birds with 

 excellent hiding and nesting places. 



Bird life at this altitude is exceedingly varied, but indi- 

 viduals, at least at the time of our visit, were not nearly so 

 abundant as we had been led to expect. At this season, of 

 course, their numbers were at their lowest ebb, as nesting was 

 just commencing, and few young birds were as yet on the wing. 

 The adults were paired and scattered, and as there was very 

 little fruit ripe at the time, there was no concentration. 



A sharp line was noticeable between the birds of the open 

 and of the jungle, neither group usually entering the domain 

 of the other. The most typical species of the potreros were 

 Parrots and Parrakeets (Conurus finschi, C. aztec and Pionus 

 senilis) ; the Tanagers {Rhamphocoelus passerinii, Thraupis 

 carta cana, T. palmarum melanoptera, Tayigara larvata larvata 

 and Euphonia luteicapilla) ; Flycatchers (Myiozetetes texensis 



