BIRD-NESTING IN ARGENTINA 367 



owned by Italians who were settling in Argentina in great 

 numbers. There were also vast green meadows in which 

 fine-looking cattle, horses, and sheep were grazing. 



Our first stop was at Salta. The journey from La Quiaca 

 had required fifteen hours. 



Salta has about thirty thousand inhabitants, and is a 

 modem city. It possesses wide, paved streets, buildings 

 of imposing dimensions, electric trolleys, and lights, a zoo- 

 logical park, good hotels, and a college. The contrast be- 

 tween being in a city where comforts and luxuries abounded, 

 and living on the bleak, Andean uplands amidst stolid 

 Quechuas guarding their herds of llamas, was great, and 

 we enjoyed the change to the fullest extent. After frozen 

 potatoes and canned provisions, the inviting coffee-houses 

 were irresistible; and the "movies" made us forget the 

 miles of inhospitable desert. Fortunately there were 

 enough of each of these attractions so that we could spend 

 a whole day visiting them, alternating from one to the other, 

 without repeating. 



Our first headquarters in the Argentine were made at 

 Rosario de Lerma, one hour by train from Salta. This is 

 a jnost delightful spot and afforded rare opportunities for 

 work and observation. The town contains about one hun- 

 dred houses and is surrounded by fields, pastures, and 

 patches of low, open woods. There is an abimdance of 

 water, and excellent meat, fruits, and vegetables may be 

 had in abimdance. The people are industrious and of good 

 appearance, and treated us courteously. 



We soon discovered that in Argentina we were not at 

 liberty to carry on our work in any place or maimer that 

 suited our purpose; in other words, there were game-laws, 

 closed and open seasons, and it was necessary to secure 

 permits from the owners of all lands on which we proposed 

 to hunt. Of all these restrictions we were ignorant, and 

 spent a blissful three days doing as we pleased; then a ser- 

 geant of police called and notified us that we were under 

 • arrest, and to call at headquarters as soon as convenient. 



