78 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



breeding-cages and began to study their life history. The 

 larva of the dragon-fly resembles a good-size black beetle 

 and lives in water. It is the possessor of a voracious, 

 appetite, feeding upon aquatic insects, the larvae of mos- 

 quitoes, and even upon members of its own kind. Finally 

 it rises to the top, hatches, and continues the cycle of its 

 existence as an aerialist, the terror of the winged insects 

 upon which it preys. Penelopes, small turkey-like birds, 

 were abimdant, and proved to be excellent eating. One 

 day we succeeded in taking two specimens of a rare, beau- 

 tiful tanager {Serricossypha albocristata) that hved in small 

 flocks in the tall tree-tops. It was as large as a robin, of 

 a velvety blue-black color, with a white crown and breast 

 of deep scarlet. With such a display of lovely colors one 

 might expect harmony in song; but apparently the vocal 

 abiUty of the gorgeous creature was limited to a few shrill 

 "peeps" like those of a strayed pullet. Deer also were 

 abimdant, and one day we caught a fine cat of the ocelot 

 family. 



We pitched camp in the heart of the forest. The vege- 

 tation was really wonderful. In spots the lower growth 

 consisted entirely of climbing bamboo, so dense as to be im- 

 penetrable; the moss carpeting the ground was often knee- 

 deep, and the trees seemed to be breaking under the weight 

 of the creepers, orchids, mosses, and lilies that burdened 

 every trunk and branch. It rained a good deal, and when 

 the downpour stopped there was always the drip, drip of 

 water that had been absorbed by the spongy masses over- 

 head. 



The forest zone extends along the top of the ridge for 

 three or four miles and down about one thousand five hun-, 

 dred feet on the other side, but the slope immediately below 

 this fine is either bush-covered or cultivated, and bears 

 every evidence of having been cleared. Fifteen hundred 

 feet lower down we came upon the Httle settlement Alma- 

 guer, which boasts about one hundred adobe houses and 

 two severely plain Httle churches, but all are whitewashed 



