26 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



birds were there in variety. One of the most interesting species of 

 the region was a brown cuckoo (Morococcyx erthropygus) that fed 

 on the ground in high grass and weeds, coming up into view only 

 when startled. The blue and orange color of the. bare skin about the 

 eye was striking. 



On clear days mountains to the east of us were constantly in 

 view, and with field glasses I could see the forests that covered their 

 slopes. By invitation of Bert De Langton we rode nearly 5 hours 

 to the Hacienda Santa Maria, on the southern slopes of the Volcan 

 Rincon de la Vieja, a ranch comprising approximately 22,000 acres 

 of land. Carrying our outfit on pack animals we crossed a sandy, 

 arid stretch where the oak trees were scattered, small, and stunted, to 

 come to the foothill region where the soil was rich and the tree growth 

 heavy. Above a small coffee grove behind the hacienda house there 

 began a great rain forest that extended practically uninhabited over 

 the mountain toward the distant frontier of Nicaragua. In the dense 

 forest I traveled with gun in one hand and machete in the other to 

 cut a passage, and open slopes were often waist high in grass. Only 

 a few trails were clear for horses. 



Our meat was game — the flesh of deer and peccary, and of the 

 great guans (Penelope purpurascens) , birds as large as small turkeys 

 that ranged in bands in the tall forest trees. Daily I saw fresh signs 

 of jaguar and tapir, and howler and white-faced monkeys were more 

 abundant than I had ever seen them before. 



Among the birds the most striking were the great red-blue-and- 

 yellow macaws that were found in flocks constantly about the house. 

 In the forest I collected specimens of a great variety of strange and 

 unusual species. To observe them at their best "fP was only necessary 

 to locate moving ant armies, as about these the forest birds congre- 

 gated in abundance. Curious ant-birds chattered and called, stiff- 

 tailed woodhewers climbed up the tree trunks like woodpeckers, 

 and tanagers, vireos, and occasional migrant warblers passed along 

 the branches overhead. Sometimes birds that I shot fell among the 

 ants and were retrieved only at the expense of burning bites and stings. 



Mist and rain kept the undergrowth perpetually wet so that it 

 was seldom that I returned dry from a morning afield. 



This interesting field work had finally to come to an end, so that 

 one morning found me seated again in the plane with collections and 

 equipment loaded in the baggage compartments in the great, extended 

 wings. In less than 3 hours I was once more in the cool uplands of 

 San Jose, and 4 days later, on November 23, I bade goodbye to 

 Dr. Valerio and to Aguilar on the pier at Puerto Limon, with regret 

 that time did not permit further work in this fascinating region. 



