THE OOLOGIST 



After a drive of about five miles "wel 

 took a launch and rode tlie rest of thel 

 way to the sea (about 2^^ miles),] 

 where the Isle of Pines Company has! 

 a dredge at work opening the mouthj 

 of the Nuevas River. The birds seenj 

 were : 



Red-legged Thrush, Cuban Kingbird,! 

 Cuban Green Woodpecker, Southernl 

 Green Heron, Southern Turkey Buz{ 

 zard, Cuban Oriole, Little Blue Heron,j 

 Cuban Red-bellied Woodpecker, Cubanl 

 Ground Dove, White Ibis, Cuban Mead-I 

 owlark, W. I. Tree Duck, Cuban Par-[ 

 rot. White-crowned Pigeon, Cuban! 

 Sparrow-hawk, Pigeon, ''Columba inor- 

 nata, Cuban Crested Flycatcher, I off 

 P. Lizard Cuckoo, Cuban Cliff Swallow,! 

 Ani, Yellow-faced Grassquit. 



On November 14th, the same tripj] 

 was made but the day was windy and 

 cloudy and very few birds were seenlL 



Red-legged Thrush, Pigeon, Colum-[i- 

 ba inornata, Cuban Ground Dove, L of ' 

 P. Lizard Cuckoo, Cuban Meadowlark, 

 Ani, Cuban Sparrow-hawk, Cuban 

 Crackle, Cuban Kingbird, Anhigna, 

 Southern Turkey Buzzard, Yellow- 

 throated Night Heron, Little Blue Her- 

 on, Spotted Sandpiper, Snowy Heron, 

 Cuban Oriole. 



December 4th, a party of four started 

 South on horseback to the Canada 

 Mountains, which are about fifteen or 

 sixteen miles, as the crow files from 

 McKinley. We started at 7 A. M. and 

 after riding over pine clad hills, 

 through jungles along the numerous 

 arroyos and hunting for places to 

 ford them (the arroyos) we finally, 

 about 11 A. M. arrived at the foot of 

 the mountains. The day was cool and 

 partly cloudy, an ideal day for the 

 horses. After eating lunch we started 

 out to climb the highest mountain, 

 which, by the way is the highest on 

 the island. Not being familiar with 

 the country we did not know the 



easiest approach, so started right over- 

 iland in a straight line. The first 

 mountain was very easy to climb, not 

 [being high and covered with open pine 

 jwoods, but the second was entirely 

 different and certainly a big surprise 

 ito all of us. Instead of being very 

 jrocky, there was a thick layer of rich 

 soil and was clad with a thick JungTe 

 iOf hardwood, among which was ma- 

 Jhogany, palmettos, royal and "cab- 

 bage" palms, wild grape and numerous 

 [other vines. For a distance of about 

 two miles we had to cut every foot of 

 our way, but the third mountain and 

 the one which we wanted to climb was 

 so steep that we thought we would 

 have to give it up, but finally we got 

 within one hundred feet of the top 

 when we came to a narrow ledge of 

 rock above which was a straight wall 

 of rock. After following this for some 

 distance we came to a break in this 

 wall and there was a grassy bank of 

 about 45 degrees slope up which we 

 crawled on our hands and knees (the 

 grass being so slippery) to see the 

 blue Carribbean, all the way around 

 the island, except where some moun- 

 tain broke the horizon. We could also 

 see the roods of Los Indios to the 

 West, Santa Fe to the East and Mc- 

 Kinley to the North. The keys around 

 the Isle were also visible as well as 

 the various fishing craft which abound 

 in these waters. The Crinaga or large 

 sv/amp which divides the island was 

 very plainly seen to the South. This 

 is said to be the richest in bird life of 

 any part of the island and it is my am- 

 bition "to work" this if I ever have 

 the time which I can spare. After rest- 

 ing we descended by the right, and 

 easiest way, and returned to our horses 

 which we had picketed out to grass. 

 We had a very enjoyable time but of 

 course because of the limited time not 

 many birds were seen. We got home 



