Todd-Carriker : Birds of Santa Marta Region, Colombia. 11 



stood at an elevation sufficient to connect the Subtropical Zones of the 

 two mountains. 



Climate. 



Rainfall and Humidity. — Throughout the greater part of the region 

 the rains begin in March or early April and continue almost daily until 

 some time in December, while even during the intervening dry sea- 

 son a few showers fall from time to time. In the semi-arid belt of 

 ■ the northwest coast and foothills the rains begin much later, and 

 showers rarely fall oftener than once or twice a week, except during 

 October, when they are of nearly daily occurrence; but all rain ceases 

 after the end of October or middle of November. There are some years, 

 however, when little rain falls in this section, and the vegetation be- 

 comes completely parched for months. On the other hand the north- 

 ern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, from the Rio Piedras eastward to 

 Dibulla, are very humid down to the very coast, the rains beginning 

 earlier and not ceasing until the end of December, while the total pre- 

 cipitation is vastly greater. This condition is due to the fact that 

 the mountain ridge intercepts the winds blowing in from the Caribbean 

 Sea and condenses the moisture they contain. A somewhat similar 

 condition, the result in this case of the land breeze from the Mag- 

 dalena basin, obtains on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada, in the 

 valleys of the Guatapuri and Badillo, if one may judge from the re- 

 marks of Simons, who adds that " the first rains begin in April ; May 

 is very wet, June to September showery. The second rains begin in 

 September; October is the worst month; and November is sometimes 

 wet." The lowlands on the west slope of the main divide have more 

 or less the same rainy season as the highlands, except that the precipi- 

 tation is slightly less. The whole of the Goajira Peninsula is prac- 

 tically a desert, the rainy season being very short and the total pre- 

 cipitation very small. 



Snow. — As seen from the sea, the Sierra Nevada appears covered 

 with snow for a considerable distance from the crest, but it is fairly 

 certain that " a good deal of the supposed snow ... is only reflected 

 light from micaceous granite" (Simons). During the rainy season 

 the snow-line doubtless drops down for a time to about 15,000 feet, 

 but during the latter part of the dry season it ascends, except in the 

 sheltered valleys and northwest slopes, to a height of 1 6,000 feet. 



