26 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



The thorn scrub extended on every hand like a level sea until, 15 or 

 20 miles farther south, there opened vast savannas with stony soil 

 grown with low bunch grass across which autos were driven during 

 the dry season in any direction without regard to roads. 



In this primitive region with its small human population the general 

 conditions reminded me strongly of the Chaco of northern Argentina, 

 Paraguay, and Bolivia. Here I found birds in great abundance, many 

 of kinds not encountered previously. Large, yellow -headed, yellow- 

 breasted blackbirds (Gymnomystax mexicanns) ranged in flocks 

 over the prairies ; pigeons, large and small, abounded ; and speckled, 

 crested quail rose with roaring wings to dash away through the bushes. 

 One little brown-cheeked parrakeet was known to the native boys as 

 cara sucia, or "dirty face." Hawks and falcons were abundant, and it 

 was instructive to note that other birds, both of game and nongame 

 varieties, did not seem to suffer in the least from the large numbers 

 of these predators. Those who have destroyed our hawks in the 

 United States would do well to study such a situation. 



After the shade of the dark forests of Rancho Grande the brilliant 

 sun of the Llanos was almost oppressive for the first two days. 

 Though the rainy season was at an end, torrential rains came nearly 

 every afternoon so that the air was constantly humid. 



Along the Rio Guarico were dense lowland forests where parrots, 

 flycatchers, warblers, and hosts of other birds abounded. One tiny 

 tropical vireo (Pachysylvia aurantiifrons) sang clearly research, 

 research, research, a scientific reminder that there was much to learn 

 in this fascinating region. Along small channels running back from 

 the river to my surprise I found the uncouth hoatzin, a species that I 

 had not expected so far from the Orinoco. This is a bird related to 

 the fowls, that lives in low trees and bushes over water, flies only 

 when necessary, and feeds on leaves, for which it has developed a 

 large crop with curious muscular walls. When young, the hoatzin 

 with claw-armed wings climbs about in the branches near its nest like 

 some reptile. 



The northern Llanos marked my final point for work, and I re- 

 mained here until the last possible moment. There followed a day in 

 Maracay, devoted to packing the nearly 450 birds that I had secured, 

 and two days in Caracas for official calls and visits. On November 25 

 1 came down again to La Guaira, and sailed for the north on the Grace 

 Line boat Caracas. All through the afternoon from the sundeck of the 

 ship I watched the dim outline of the steadily receding coast range 

 with the hope that some day I might return for further studies of 

 Venezuelan birds. 



