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



legs (Dendrobates typographus typographus) and a tiny tree- 

 toad (Hylotes underwoodi) were found in the forest. Good- 

 sized tree-toads {Smilisca baudini) were fairly common about 

 Guapiles, trilling nightly from the surrounding potreros. A 

 large green frog (Rana chyrosprasina) inhabited the banks of 

 the streams, but was very shy and difficult to collect. 



The country is well drained, the streams being numerous 

 and very swift. One small brook, not more than three feet 

 wide, near our headquarters, contained numerous fishes — small 

 eels and catfishes, at least three species of Cichlids, Astyanax 

 seneus costaricensis, and six species of the Poeciliidai (Rivulus 

 2sthmensis, mollienisia sphenops tropica, Alfare cultratum, 

 Priapichthys annectens, Poeciliopsis pittieri and Brachyrhaphis 

 umbratilis). 



Insects were not numerous. Mosquitoes were troublesome 

 only during the early morning, but bete rouge, ticks and a small 

 black fly were plentiful enough. 



As the object of the expedition was the collection of living 

 specimens, few skins were made, so these notes must be con- 

 fined to those birds which we were able to observe or capture 

 without the use of guns. No attempt has been made to give a 

 list of species seen, as this ground already has been admirably 

 covered by several writers, chiefly Robert Ridgway ' and M. A. 

 Carriker, Jr., ' and mention is made only of those birds concern- 

 ing which some observation was made. 



Part III. — Notes on the Birds. 

 April 4, 1914-May 10, 1914. 



Cresciscus cinereiceps (Lawr.). Ashy-Headed Rail. 



This tiny rail was abundant about Guapiles, being found in 

 pairs wherever the ground had the slightest tendency toward 

 marshiness. Its call-note is a sharp cackling, strikingly like that 

 of Synallaxis pudica nigrifumosa.... The birds were breeding and 

 on April 9, 1914, a nest was found. It was globular, about six 

 inches in diameter and built of narrow-leaved grasses, the en- 

 trance hole being at the side. It was placed in a small clump 

 of grass, about six inches from the ground, in the center of a 



* Ridgway, Robert, Birds of Middle & North America. 



'■' Carriker, Jr., M. A. An Annotated List of tlie Birds of Costa Rica, 

 Including Cocos Island. 



