216 Walter Goodfellow—Some Reminiscences of a Collector


Ecuador is not an easy country for tlie collector as the inhabitants

know nothing of bird catching. If they would only climb trees it

would be a great help in setting the nets, but whenever I suggested

it I was invariably asked if I thought they were monkeys. The best

tree climbers I have met with anywhere are the Dyaks of Borneo,

who will tackle anything and who, with their superb physique, far less

resemble monkeys.


The lowlands of the Pacific coast are exceedingly unhealthy, and

it would be very difficult indeed to work upwards through the forests

from there ; besides all the best Tanagers come from the intermediate

and higher altitudes, and away from the coast few inhabitants are

met with until the central highlands are reached. The plan I adopted

was to make Quito, which is over 9,000 feet up, my base and work

over the tops of the western and eastern ranges from there. But

here again are difficulties as high passes have to be crossed wherever

one goes. That over the Eastern Cordillera at 16,500 feet is more

often than not under snow, with treacherous bogs on either side

into which a man would sink, without a good local guide. I have

crossed this pass five times and never lost my fear of it, but the last

time was the only one when I had livestock with me. On that occasion

when we got to the actual foot of the pass, we rested for a while in

a turf hovel, and here still further covered the cages with every article

of clothing we could spare, almost to suffocation, for at times the wind

on the top is so strong it tears the clothing on your back. I had some

tame Parrots with me and these I put inside my shirt, while my

companion filled his up with Marmozets. Once over, and below the

snow and slush, we rested in a small sheltered gully to unload ourselves

of livestock, and had not lost one. Here, in the warmer sunshine we

fed and watered the birds. That night, still in the cold, we had to sleep

in a ruined turf hut with the wind whistling through chinks in

the walls.


These high altitudes above the bush zone are called “ paramos ”

(wilderness) and are bleak and forbidding except on sunny days.

Yet some species of Humming Birds dwell there, feeding on small

Alpine flowers. When camping on Pichincha above Quito at 15,000

feet, several times at the close of day I saw the small Puff-leg (Eriocnemis



