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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC .MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Frank M. Chapman 

 A TOSADA IN THE TEMPERATE) ZONE, ON THE OUINDTO TRAIL OP THE CENTRAL ANDES, 



AT AN ALTITUDE OP 10,300 FEET 



A train of oxen, much used as pack animals in the Central Andes, is resting in the corral. 

 Note the stunted trees of the Temperate Zone forests. The birds here were unlike those 

 found at lower altitudes in the Tropical and Subtropical Zones. 



acquired in advance of their northern 

 sisters. Sitting cross-legged on a bench 

 chattering baby-talk, she contentedly 

 smoked a large black cigar, around or 

 partly around which her tiny forefinger 

 coiled in stereotyped form. Her mother 

 gave her a light and seemed unfeignedly 

 proud of her offspring's accomplishment. 



The rays of the mountain sun gradu- 

 ally lifted the curtain of clouds from the 

 scene below us, revealing beneath it the 

 level floor of the Cauca Valley, with 

 gleaming lagoons and streams and vari- 

 colored areas of marsh, pasture, and for- 

 est. Clouds still hung over the sunlit 

 valley and above them rose the purple 

 summits of the Central Andes, distant 40 

 miles or more. It was a scene of great 

 beauty, made even more memorable when, 

 on a subsequent occasion, we saw far to 

 the south the three superb snow peaks of 

 Mt. Huila. 



The moisture-bearing winds from the 

 Pacific are condensed on only the western 



slope of the coast range. As a result the 

 Cloud or Subtropical Zone forest ends 

 on the summit of the range, the eastern 

 slopes being grass-covered and devoid of 

 trees. 



The change in vegetation is as abrupt 

 as the change in grade and serves further 

 to illustrate the striking local effects of 

 climatic and physiographic influences. 



The homes of that remarkable assem- 

 blage of tanagers, motmots, toucans, tro- 

 gons, and many other brilliantly colored 

 birds which characterize and, in large part, 

 are restricted to the Subtropical Zone, 

 ended at the summit, and on the arid 

 eastern slope few birds were found. 



ARRIVAL AT CHARMING CALI 



It was mid-afternoon when a turn in 

 the trail showed us the attractive little 

 city of Cali. Four stately ceibas form 

 more fitting and impressive city gates 

 than the hand of man could erect, and as 

 we crossed the picturesque bridge over 



