34 



THE OOLOGIST 



his workmen's houses, and gave us 

 permission to hunt over his entire 

 tract of land, which reaches from the 

 trail of the Central Andes on the far 

 side of the plain. 



The houses are called 'Aguadita'' 

 and are the most primitive type of 

 mud huts with dirt floors and no win- 

 dows, the doorways serving for light 

 and air. Cherrie and I are in the lower 

 house and the other three in the upper 

 one. We take our meals at the upper 

 house as the food is better. Our room 

 measures 9 by 15 feet with a door 

 opening into the pigs pen. There is 

 a second hole in the wall, leading from 

 our room into the woman's, through 

 which we must pass to get out. The 

 walls are of mud over bamboo, the 

 roof of cane and the floor, just the 

 natural ground somewhat smoothed 

 over. 



We are situated close to the roaring 

 stream mentioned before, which 

 proves to be the Reo del Monte which 

 is a tributary of the Suma del Paz. 

 The forest is very heavy, typical 

 jungle and extremely beautiful. Al- 

 though the rainy season is almost up- 

 on us, there are a few hours each day 

 when collecting is fairly easy. My 

 idea is that this locality will prove the 

 richest of any so far visited, especial- 

 ly in view of the fact that a short 

 hunt this afternoon by all hands, 

 brought in three birds new to the ex- 

 pedition, including a fine Grallaria. 

 Noted a large colony of Oropendulas 

 nesting in a very tall tree by the trail. 

 Aguadita is about five miles from 

 Fusugasuga and the altitude is 6450 

 feet. 



March 26th. The rain continued 

 during the night and most of today, so 

 the woods were very wet and difficult 

 to hunt and the day generally dis- 

 agreeable. I went out into the forest 

 back of our hut but only secured two 

 birds in an hour's hunt. After this I 



followed the trail, making side trips 

 into the more open woods when they 

 looked profitable, taking five more 

 specimens. I lost two good humming 

 birds. Ring took a new Callestes and 

 Furetes brought in a new small par- 

 rot. 



March 27th. Today was much like 

 yesterday and the forests will not be 

 workable much longer. We were all 

 cut four hours this morning and Ring 

 and O'Connel went to the woods again 

 this afternoon, but only a few birds 

 were taken. There are plenty here, 

 but it is almost impossible to see them 

 as the rain makes every leaf move 

 and also drowns out all songs and call 

 notes. 



Cherrie took a fine pair of new 

 Toucans, and I secured a new fly- 

 catcher. Ring shot another small par- 

 rot. Two more Grallaria and many 

 common species made up the rest of 

 the days bag. 



I found a colony of Humming birds 

 nesting under the bridge which spans 

 the Reo del Monte here. The nests 

 were large affairs of mosses and fibers 

 attached to the bridge timbers with 

 growing moss. From a distance they 

 resembled Phoebes nests. I managed 

 to get down under the bridge by walk- 

 ing up the boulders in the middle of 

 the rapids. All the nests that I could 

 examine contained two well feathered 

 young, which the old birds were con- 

 tinually flying to with food. 



This is a very remargable occur- 

 ance, not only in view of the fact that 

 the birds were nesting in a colony, 

 but because it is a very interesting 

 case of recent adaption to a new and 

 convenient nesting site. This bridge 

 is probably less than ten years old, 

 as it is built of modern, though hand- 

 sawn timbers. In the states; where 

 bridges of this type have been com- 

 mon for a great many years it is not 

 so remarkable when we think, for in- 



