i6o 
THE CONDOR 
| Vor,, VII 
avoided since it lives inside the swollen thorns of a particular species of shrub or 
small tree resembling our honey locust, easily recognized and therefore easily 
shunned. 
The real terrors of Tropical collecting are the absence of comfortable shelter 
and palatable food, when one is once away from the towns, and the limitations 
upon travel and transportation. Off the carreta roads, which scarcely exist except 
between the towns and main settlements, only horse trails occur, and these for the 
most part over excessively rough, stony, hilly, and often slippery ground. On 
this account one’s outfit must necessarily be restricted to what can be carried on 
horseback", unless the collector be sufficiently provided with funds to be able to 
hire pack animals and packer. The certainty of getting wet every day when one 
goes into the mountains (or even elsewhere during the rainy season) is also a seri- 
ous matter, and the collector should be provided with several changes of shoes and 
clothing, since once wet they cannot, as a rule, be dried. Another thing worth 
mentioning, though a comparatively trifling matter to a young and strong collector, 
is the physical difficulty of collecting on account of the dense vegetation and rough 
nature of the ground, rendering it often practically impossible to recover a speci- 
men after it has been shot*. Frequently birds will lodge in a dense mass of air- 
plants, and can only be recovered by climbing, and sometimes this is not possible. 
The higher one ascends the greater the difficulties from this source, for the forests 
reach the maximum of density on the high mountains, where they are constantly 
drenched with rains or mists. 
What most strongly impressed me during my stay in Costa Rica was a realiza- 
tion of the very fragmentary character of our knowledge of Tropical bird-life. 
Probably in no country of Central or South America have the birds been studied to 
a greater extent than in Costa Rica; yet far more than two-thirds of that country 
have never been ever visited by a naturalist, and within sight of San Jose are for- 
ests that have never been penetrated. At every locality where we collected, birds 
were heard each day that were never seen, although constant search was made for 
them; and I feel quite sure that even in localities that have been more or less 
“worked up” there are species of birds that never will be known to Science unless 
through accident or until they are driven from their haunts by destruction of their 
forest cover. Consequently the possibilities which may result from thorough ex- 
ploration should be a powerful incentive to energetic work in Tropical America, 
and I would advise every enthusiastic young ornithologist who desires a field with- 
out limit to choose for his labors some part of that vast region. 
I Vashington, D. C. 
a Excellent saddle-bags are easily procurable in the towns at very moderate cost. 
b We estimated our loss on this account at an average of two birds out of three in some localities! 
