9 i



of the colours is exactly the same, but of au altogether richer

and intenser hue, and it is also a little longer. Its stomach con¬

tained nothing but berries of a hard (and what one would have

thought unnourishing) kind. Its lovely cinnamon-green back

has a gloss on it like rich satin, and which throws into high

relief the dull black head and neck with the patch of yellow on

the nape. The entire breast and underparts are orange yellow,

and the shoulders violet. The wings and tail black, edged with

bright violet.


Before we descend from the health}" highlands of Quito,

to the hot regions below, I must just mention, en passant ,

another beautiful member of the same family —-Iridornis dubusia.

The head, throat, and neck, in this bird, are dull black, with a

crown of reddish-gold feathers wdiich the bird can erect at

pleasure. The breast and back are violet and very shining.

The rump and the underparts indigo; the vent rufous; the wings

and tail black, and each feather edged with pale indigo-blue.

This beautiful Tanager we found on the West side of Pichincha,

at an altitude of 7,500 ft. I dont think it is confined solely to

that mountain, but it is confined to the Western side of the

Andes ; and on Pichincha was the only place we found it. I can

say very little about its habits, beyond that it seemed a solitary

bird, usually found singly, and nowhere common. Probably we

procured some five or six specimens altogether, during a period

of several months. It seemed to feed chiefly on berries.


Pichincha is a wonderful mountain for birds. It rises to

an altitude of 16,000 feet, and so just enters the snow line.

Its crater (still adtive) is said to be the deepest in the world,

2,000 feet and a mile or more across. On the Western side, the

forests reach up to 12,000 feet, but from Quito, up to the same

altitude on its Eastern side, the vegetation is much more stunted,

and composed chiefly of flowering bushes, to which vast

numbers of Humming Birds resort. After I have thoroughly

worked out our collection, it will be interesting to count exactly

how many species of birds we obtained from this one mountain.

Various ground birds were very numerous, and also other species

about which I may write later on. As one ascends higher,

the bushes get smaller and smaller until they abruptly cease

altogether, and one enters the bleak regions called the “ paramo ”

or wilderness. From thence up to the snow line, the mountain

is covered with a long, wiry grass, growing in thick clumps.

This is by no means devoid of bird life, for among the grass is

found a curious Partridge (.Nothoprocta curvirostris) an exceed-



