Todd-Carriker : Birds of Santa Marta Region, Colombia. 7 



Eastern Andes, known here as the Sierra Negra. What we are actu- 

 ally discussing, therefore, is the isolated mountain mass known as the 

 Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, together with its contiguous lowlands. 

 These lowlands include the entire littoral from Rio Hacha, in the ex- 

 treme northeast, around to Cienaga on the west, as well as the low 

 . country in the vicinity of the Cienaga Grande and in the valleys of the 

 Rio Rancheria and Rio Cesar, south as far as the village of Cam- 

 perucho. The Eastern Andes, therefore, while not formally included 

 in the region under consideration, are incidentally touched in referring 

 to the available records for two localities situated in their western 

 foothills. 



Mountain System. — The dominating feature in the topography of 

 the region is, of course, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the main 

 axis of which runs east and west, parallel with the coast-line, instead 

 of north and south, like the Cordillera of Colombia. The range, in- 

 deed, is not a part of the great Andean system, either geographically 

 or geologically; it is separated from the latter by the broad plains of 

 the- Magdalena River towards the south, and by a long, open valley on 

 the southeast. " Earthquakes are common in the Andean chain and 

 their vibrations are sometimes felt simultaneously from Peru to the 

 Caribbean Islands ; but they do not affect the Sierra Nevada. The oc- 

 casional slight tremors recorded are purely local" (Smith). The 

 mountains rise very abruptly from sea-level to the regions of perpetual 

 snow, attaining an altitude of not less than 17,500 feet at a point only 

 thirty miles from the coast. The apex of the range, at the Snow 

 PeakSj is about forty-five miles in an air-line southeast of Santa Marta, 

 but an outlying spur extends to within a comparatively short distance 

 of the town. This spur culminates in two principal peaks, the San 

 Lorenzo and the Horqueta, the former rising to 9,300 feet and the 

 latter to about 7,000 feet.^ " To the northwest of the principal range 

 are several lower ridges, roughly parallel to it and abutting diagonally 

 on the northern coast. This portion of the coast is remarkably pic- 

 turesque, a succession of rocky headlands with deep bays between the 

 ridges; the bays are often backed by sand beaches and mangrove 

 swamps of no small extent. Further east the headlands are no longer 

 seen, and low, rolling lands extend back to the base of the Sierra 

 Nevada" (Smith). The San Lorenzo is connected to a massive 



3 8,400 feet, according to Mr. Smith, but this is clearly a mistake. 



