UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
April 16,191?. 
Llr. Alex Viletmore 
San Juan, Porto Pdco 
Dear I'.'r. Wetmore: 
Your interesting letters of April 4th and 7th are just 
at hand. The conditions you found in El Yunque remind me of 
certain parts of the Hawaiian Islands where during my col- 
lecting I alv/ays started out with a suit of oils whether the 
sun was shining or not, and I generally had plenty of use for 
them before the day was out. 
The habit of the naked-footed owl of eating coffeeberries 
strikes me as most extraordinary. In Hawaii, so far as I am 
nothing 
aware^d iaturbs the coffeeberry, altho'jgh this seems rather 
strange as the pulp is rather palatable and must contain con- 
siderable nutriment. 
I am exceedingly glad that you have had such success in 
collecting rarities. The Heospingus specql if erus is indeed a 
prize, and your series of 25 represents probably more speci- 
mens than there are in the museums of the world. I am pleased 
that you got a goodly number. Lilany collectors make the mis- 
take of collecting a few and reaJize only when it is too late 
that they ought to have doubled or trebled the nuniber. 
I hope you will use every effort possible to verify the 
statement that the mongoose eats young sugar cane. The same 
belief w'as expressed in Hawaii, but I was never able t‘o 
