■36 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol.XXXVI, 



pointed in the collecting here since forms were neither abundant nor dis- 

 tinctive." 



Chicoral. — " Chicoral is on the west side of the Magdalena Valley at an 

 altitude of 1200 feet. The Valley at this point is very arid, even along the 

 streams, although this was probably emphasized by the fact that it had not 

 rained for five months when we arrived. T^here were many more cacti 

 and palmettos than in the Cauca Valley, with few epiphytes or orchids on 

 the trees. Most of the collecting was done in the sparse woods along the 

 river and scrubby places about the pastures and a little on the open plain 

 which was covered with coarse dry grass. Along the river birds were very 

 plentiful, including many migrants from North America." 



Salentd to the Paramo of Santa Isabel. — "The Valley erf the Boquia leads 

 northeast past Salento and the trail to the Paramo follows this valley to 

 the very headwaters. The valley, which we crossed at Boquia on our way 

 to Laguneta, at an altitude of 6100 feet, rises gently until, where we left it, 

 it was 8300 feet. It is broad and open with little vegetation, except a 

 narrow girth along the stream and a scattered growth of magnificent palms. 

 These continue to the head of the valley and up on the mountainside to 

 at least 9500 feet. 



"Leaving the valley of the Boquia at 8300 feet, the trail leads almost 

 due north up the mountainside at a very sharp angle. The trail is poor 

 and in some spots practically obliterated. The lower mountainside is 

 very bare except for the scattered palms, having been burned and cleared. 

 Corn and wheat are growing in spots but most of the country is closely 

 cropped by cattle. The open country continues to an altitude of 9300 feet; 

 here the forest begins, and so far as we could observe resembles very closely 

 that of Laguneta. The trail now becomes slightly more marked so that one 

 has no difficulty in finding the way. At 4: 20 P. M. we reached the second 

 house above the valley, at an altitude of 10,550 feet, where we stopped for 

 the night. The next morning we continued on our way to the Paramo. 

 The trail leads through large clearings and patches of woods similar to that 

 of Laguneta until the 12,000-foot mark is reached where the forest appears 

 . quite different. The trees are large, the woods more open with an abun- 

 dance of moss even on the forest floor — less of the ' climbing bamboo,' 

 which has been replaced by another species more like huge grass. The 

 moss itself is very different in appearance being almost black. A few yellow 

 orchids were in bloom. The appearance of this woods leads us to decide 

 to stop and investigate it for a few days on our way back. This forest 

 continues to from 12,400-12,600 feet where a decided change takes place. 

 The large trees disappear and smaller, more or less recumbent species, 

 take their place, resembling large bushes. Large bushes are intermingled 



