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A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE 



DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



Official Organ of The Audubon Societies 



Vol. XXI November — December, 1919 No. 6 



Notes from a Traveler in the Tropics* 



By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



V. CHILE 



With illustrations by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 



FROM LA PAZ one may reach the Chilean coast by an eighteen-hour 

 railroad journey to Arica, or by one of thirty-six hours to Antofogasta. 

 The latter is by far the more interesting, not alone because it requires 

 double the time, but also because it passes through a more highly diversified 

 region. The recently constructed line of the Antofogasta and Bolivian Rail- 

 way, from La Paz to the tableland, affords views of the great bowl in which 

 this city lies which, in their great breadth and beauty, remind one forcibly of 

 the Grand Canon. This panorama of sculp tuied walls and pinnacles, of green 

 slopes leading to the red-tiled roofs below, of the snow-crowned Cordillera 

 towering high in the background deserves, indeed, to rank among the most 

 noteworthy features of South American scenery. 



From our slow, tortuous, winding way, a thousand feet up the side of the 

 ' canon, we suddenly emerge upon the flat puna, stretching in illimitable dis- 

 tances to blue and, occasionally, snow-capped mountains. The scant herbage, 

 spread thinly over the rock-littered earth, supports countless herds of sheep and 

 llamas, which, accompanied by their poncho-clad Indian guardians, form the 

 characteristic feature of every picture. 



Of birds I saw comparatively few. White-throats (Brachyspiza) were 

 abundant in La Paz, and on the surrounding hillsides there were a few Sooty 

 Thrushes {Semimeruld) , Puna Finches {Phrygilus gayi punensis), and small 

 flocks of coal-black Goldfinches (Spinus atratus), whose wings, in flight, 

 appeared to be wholly yellow, giving them a most unusual appearance. 



On the tableland the fine Spur-winged Plover was a constant attraction; 

 but although small sloughs and streams offered apparently suitable haunts, there 

 was not that display of bird-life which so amazes one north of Lake Titicaca. 



♦Concluded from Bird-Lore for May-June, igig. 



