Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 
13 
to our collection; in fact not a day passed here without adding four 
or five species not previously taken to our list. Several months 
could easily have been spent in this section and, even then we would 
not have taken representatives of all the species either resident or 
passing through the forest in waves. The bird population was here 
more numerous, both in species and individuals, than at any other 
spot we visited. 
I he Tinamous or Mountain Hens, as they are locally called, were 
often heard in the surrounding bush especially about six o’clock 
in the evening,—hence the name Six-o’Clock Bird, a common 
venacular. Extremely shy, and hard to distinguish from the 
ground of the forest in their olive-brown plumage but we never- 
the-less succeeded in collecting a fine series of them. A large 
colony of Wagler’s Oropendolas decorated four large trees in front 
of our door with their nests, until they looked like huge Christmas 
trees. There were over one hundred pairs of these birds in the 
colony; they were extremely tame, and we were very careful not 
to disturb them by shooting near the nesting trees. Several fine 
mammals, including a Nasua, a Rabbit, and fine pair of Mantled- 
Howler Monkeys were obtained. On our way back to Eden a 
Tamandua, a small form of Anteater, was shot from a high tree 
while in the act of eating termites from a large nest. 
Owing to the press of business, Mr. Street was compelled to 
return home the first of May. I remained at Eden continuing the 
work, with another short visit to the Falls, until June fifth. 
Early in May, a large band of Mantled Howler Monkeys visited 
the forest above the Staff House, making the hills echo with their 
weird cries. The collection needed Howlers, and suffice it to say 
twelve fine specimens were obtained, fathers, mothers, and babes- 
in-arms, enough for a group and a series for the study collection, 
including skulls of all and entire skeletons of several. The skinning, 
curing the skins, and roughing out the skulls and skeletons of 
twelve large monkeys in a hot climate, is a continuous and towards 
the end none too pleasant job, especially to the olfactory nerves. 
The smaller mammal skins were made up on the spot into study 
skins; the larger ones were cured with salt and packed in a barrel 
between layers of salt, as 1 found it impossible to get the skins dry 
in such a moisture-saturated atmosphere. With the approach of 
the rainy season, the heavier and more frequent showers turned 
