July, 1903 | 
THK CONDOR 
93 
Meanwhile several birds had fallen to Underwood’s gun, including two wood- 
peckers, Melanerpes hoffmani and Chloronerpes yucatanensis, a peculiar cuckoo-like 
bird, Piaya cayana thermophila, having a long graduated tail, and a large Costa 
Rica woodhewer {Xiphocolaptes emigrans costaricensis). We had now emerged 
from the jungle into an open, park-like portrero^ or pasture, where the trees were 
much larger, and grew in scattered clumps. Roots grew out from the trunks at a 
good height and hung to the ground like immense cables, while the upper branches 
supported an endless variety of orchids, bromelias, air plants, mosses and lichens. 
A small tree having sweet-scented, white flowers was resorted to by humming 
birds in large numbers, Reiffer hummingbirds being the most abundant. A large 
species with a white rump was not secured. One male specimen of the Helana 
coquette {Lophorjiis heleyice"), an exquisite little gem, was taken high up in a tree 
at the long, tubular, pink flowers of a climbing vine. The coquette is a very 
small object when feeding in this manner, and as it does not hum loudly in com- 
parison with other species often escapes detection. 
Some guava trees next investigated yielded specimens of Wilson black-cap 
and chestnut-sided warblers, and summer tanagers, all in poor plumage. A squir- 
rel {Sciuriis aestiians hoffmani), busily breakfasting on the guava fruit, was also 
taken, and a handsome fellow he was, with his long, silvery tail and fiery under- 
parts. By this time our presence had been noted by a troop of white-tailed brown 
jays {Psilorhinus inexicatms), in some trees on the farther edge of the portrero, and 
they flew away with a great clatter. Many of the small birds appear to rely upon 
Psilorhinus as a sentinel, for we immediately noticed a great depletion in their 
numbers. A peculiar croaking or rasping note drew our attention to a pair of 
coixngas {Tityra set)iifasciata perso?iata), moving about among the dead limbs of a 
tall tree, and both birds were secured by a lucky shot. The male was a delicate 
shade of plumbeous white, with darker wings, and we found great difficulty in 
keeping the fine plumage of both birds clean on account of the flow of blood from 
the wounds. 
A larger tree in the center of the porlrero was occupied by a colony of Wag- 
ler oropendolas {Zarhynchus wagleri) — commonly called weaver birds in Costa 
Rica. As many as fifty of their beautiful, pendant nests, each one three or four 
feet in length, hung from the terminal foliage of the upper branches; the various 
tree mosses of which they were constructed giving to them a greenish gray color. 
As we approached, twenty or thirty of the birds flew swiftly awa}' with rapid 
wing-strokes, but a number remained and peered down at us through the foliage, 
chattering noisily all the while. A few went into the nests through the entrance 
hole near the top of the structure, while still others merely poked their heads out. 
Very young birds were found a few days later in the four nests hanging from 
the first branch, and seen near the main trunk in the lower portion of the plate.*" 
Great difficulty was experienced in securing these nests for examination, Mr. 
Carriker being obliged to climb the smooth, slender tree to a height of some forty 
feet before reaching the first branch. He then cut off at the base the slender limb 
bearing the nests, and carefully lowered them to the ground. After examining the 
young birds the nests were fastened to the lowest branch of the tree in the hope 
that the parent birds might find and care for the young ones. While in the tree 
Mr. Carriker also secured several empty'nests which were preserved as specimens. 
Among others the following North American birds were noted by Mr. Under- 
wood and myself in the portrero-. swallow-tailed kite, sparrow hawk, black vulture, 
mourning dove and scissor-tailed flycatcher. 
a. Taken near I.a Gloria, five miles east of Juan Vinas. There are over thirty nests in the colony. 
