40 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



Ornithological Explorations of the Junior Author. 



The junior author began operations in the Santa Marta region in 

 1911, arriving at the city of Santa Marta late in May. His first work 

 was done at the hacienda Cincinnati (formerly known as Valparaiso) 

 on June i. This is the largest coffee-plantation in the whole district, 

 and lies on the western slopes of the San Lorenzo between 3,000 and 

 5,000 feet, with unbroken forest on all sides, extending downwards to 

 the foothills and upwards to the crest of the mountain. More or less 

 continuous collecting was carried on at Cincinnati and on the San 

 Lorenzo during June and July, while in early August some work was 

 done between Mamatoco and Cincinnati, at La Tigrera, Minca, and 

 Agua Dulce. Work was suspended from August 7 until March 15 of 

 the following year. On March 17 the attempt to reach the main Sierra 

 Nevada by way of the ridge connecting it with the San Lorenzo was 

 begun. Nearly three weeks were consumed in this attempt, which 

 finally had to be given up, the project being next to impossible under 

 the existing conditions. There was no trail of any sort, nothing but 

 unbroken forest, and a trail had to be cut out with machetes. After 

 ascending the ridge to an altitude of about 8,500 feet, further pro- 

 gress along its crest was checked by an impenetrable tangle of brush 

 and huge bromelias, reaching a height of from four to ten feet. Water 

 was very difficult to secure and birds were scarce, so that after a 

 couple of days of heart-breaking work in an attempt to pass this bar- 

 rier, the trip was reluctantly abandoned and the party returned to Cin- 

 cinnati. Work was continued here for a short time and then near 

 Mamatoco until April 26, when the writer returned to the United 

 .States for a few months' rest, having been collecting constantly in 

 Trinidad and Venezuela from 1909 to 191 1, before going to Colombia. 



He returned to Santa Marta in September, 1912, accompanied by 

 Mrs. Carriker. Some intermittent collecting was done in the vicinity 

 of Cincinnati during the remainder of that year and the early part of 

 1 91 3. However, the following April he took the field again, accom- 

 panied this time by Mrs. Carriker, who had by this time acquired s6me 

 skill as a preparator, and work was continued almost uninterruptedly 

 through 1913. The first locality visited was a point between Mama- 

 toco and La Tigrera along the valley of Tamocal Creek, where two 

 weeks were spent and nearly three hundred specimens collected. After 



