PELICANS IN BLACK MANGROVES 



this forest has appeared in response to a 

 natural subsurface irrigation. However 

 this may be, the fact remains that at this 

 point luxuriant tropical forest growth 

 reaches its northern limit at sea-level, a 

 circumsta*nce which implies that one may 

 expect to find here many species of plants, 

 birds, and mammals heretofore known 

 only from farther south, as well possibly 

 as some local forms. 



AN UNEXPLORED REGION 



The region is practically unexplored 

 zoologically, and offers an attractive as 

 well as a readily accessible field to the 

 faunal naturalist. Purely as a bit of per- 

 tinent information, it may be added that 

 no one should attack it who is not proof 

 against mosquitoes and the small ticks, 

 locally known as "pinaleas. ,, 



A day near Maclodeo's added to our 

 list of purely tropical species a third 

 parrot, a tinamou ( Tiuamus) , a great 

 cacique (Gymnostinops) , a hawk (Ru- 

 pornis), a falcon (Falco albigularis) , a 

 toucan (Ramphastos) , a flycatcher (J\le- 

 garhynchus) , blackbirds of the genera 

 Amblycercus and Dives, tanagers of the 



Photo by Frank M. Chapman 

 IN TAMIAHUA LAGOON, MEXTCO 



genera Saltator and Phocnicothraupis, 

 and flycatcher-like birds of the genera 

 Lathria and Platypsaris. 



Even this encouraging and suggestive 

 showing could not induce us longer to 

 postpone our visit to the bird islands. 

 Possibly, too, our departure was in a 

 measure hastened by the ticks and mos- 

 quitoes, and on the morning of April 14 

 we continued our voyage, and two hours 

 later landed on Pajaro Island in a tiny 

 cove, with a sand beach overhung by 

 black mangroves — a most attractive camp 

 site. The beach, some 50 feet wide, was 

 bordered by lower, grass-grown, evi- 

 dently at times marshy, but now dry, 

 ground, and on the other side of this lay 

 a still lower area several acres in extent, 

 covered with black mangroves and other 

 low trees and bushes growing in water. 



Up to this time few birds and no spoon- 

 bills had been seen ; but giving no expres- 

 sion to our disappointment or to our rap- 

 idly changing estimate of Seriora Maclo- 

 deo's veracity, we crossed the narrow 

 marsh and entered the wall of vegetation 

 on its farther side. 



543 



