Photo by Frank M. Chapman 



A "FIG" TR£E ON THLv TAMFySl RIV^R, MEXICO 



From parrots to crossbills 



It follows, then, that one can actually 

 stand in a tropical jungle, where parrots, 

 trogons, toucans, and other equatorial 

 birds are calling from the liana-draped 

 trees, and look upward to forests of pines 

 and spruce, where crossbills, j uncos, pine 

 siskins, and evening grosbeaks are among 

 the common permanently resident species. 



Later, we may ascend to the snows on 

 Orizaba to discover at approximately 

 what altitude the palms of the Tierra 

 Caliente give way to the oaks of the 

 Tierra Templada, to be in turn replaced 

 by the spruces of the Tierra Fria. As a 

 preliminary to this journey let us first see 

 something of the Tropical Zone.* 



Circumstances led me to make studies 

 in this zone near Tampico, and from 

 this town of many dugouts we embarked 

 at 6.15 on an April morning, bound for 



*As a matter of fact, on this particular trip, 

 the tropics were visited last, but the narrative 

 follows the more natural order. 



Paso del Haba, a small sugar plantation 

 on the banks of the Tamesi River distant 

 75 miles by water, 35 by land. In addi- 

 tion to our host, who proved a host in- 

 deed, our party consisted of George Shi- 

 ras, 3d, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Chapman 

 Grant, and the writer — a company with 

 sufficiently diverse aims to insure a many- 

 pointed contact with nature. 



Sacrificing the picturesque to the prac- 

 tical, we embarked in a launch with a 

 four-horse-power engine, rather than a 

 tolda - covered canoe of four - paddle 

 power, and consequently reached our des- 

 tination in twelve hours rather than in 

 thirty-six. But what we gained in speed 

 we lost in opportunity for observation. 



encroaching civilization 



An intrusively vulgar, tuff-tuffing mo- 

 tor-boat is about the most effective agent 

 for destroying the charm and alarming 

 the life of a quiet, remote tropical river 

 that man has devised ; but we argued that 

 opportunities missed on the water might 



537 



