192



Mr. F. E. Blaauw,



brown : rump redder ; tail fringed with reddish brown ; wings, brown

margined with reddish olive ; throat, buff; breast, olive tinted with

buff; belly and vent, white touched with buff.


If anyone has a friend in Canton, perhaps some of these

delicious birds could be imported in pairs.



ON BIRDS AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS


BETWEEN


PUERTO VARAS & PUERTO MONTT.


By F. E. Blaauw, C.M.Z.S.


Puerto Varas is a small place on the Southern shore of the

beautiful lake of Llanquihue in Southern Chile. The chief glory of

this lake is the snow-clad top of the Osorno volcano which, along

with other mountains, can be seen from the greater part of it.


Puerto Varas is on the way to Puerto Montt, if one goes

south, and is a fairly important place, mostly inhabited by German

colonists. When I was in Puerto Varas I had just returned from a

trip to the Nahuel Fluapi lake, and had the intention to travel

northwards to Valdivia, so that I only stopped for a day at the place

named. It was the 25th of March, 1911, and I thought I would

spend it by making an excursion to Puerto Montt. Accordingly I

set out on horseback early in the morning, travelling southwards.

The road at first led through open country, more or less hilly, and

was, as is usual for roads in Chile, of the worst kind.


In the neighbourhood of Puerto Varas the Diuca Sparrows,

which in Chile take the place of our House-Sparrows, were very

numerous ; and the Chimangos, which are the birds of the roads and

are as tame as bam-door fowl, were there as usual. Occasionally I

saw one or two Zonotrichia pileata amongst the Diucas, but these

being of a more retiring and shyer disposition, would always quickly

disappear, leaving the Diucas in evidence.


After about half-an-hour’s ride we crossed a stream by a

bridge, which was of the usual Chilian design, that is, it consisted of

a wooden framework on which a number of loose stout planks, full



