as each egg has not to be separately packed. I have had eggs so arranged for over 30 years, and the cotton wool is as clean as when it was put in, showing that at any rate the boxes are dust-proof. We are fortunately not troubled with many insect pests, our great enemy being the damp, and this as a rule can be guarded against.
I enclose a few photographs showing the different sizes of the boxes. [Two of these photos are reproduced herewith.—Ed.]
A MONTH'S BIRD-COLLECTING IN VENEZUELA
AFTER a four days' sea journey from Panama, in a large English steamship, I arrived in La Guayra, Venezuela on April 21, 1908. An enormous mountain, La Sella, frowns down upon the little seaport huddling upon the narrow strip of shore at its base. The town is hot and unhealthy, and I was glad to spend but one night there mad leave next morning for Caracas. The railroad journey thither is one of the most magnificent in the world. The steep ascent requires the track to wind in and out along the sides of deep canyons, and affords a view of the deep blue Caribbean sea and its palm-lined shore for great distances. The day after arriving in Caracas my bird-collecting, for the Field Museum of Natural History, began.
The valley in which Caracas lies is an extensive level plain surrounded by stately hills. To the north lies the great Sella mountain, which rises 9000 feet almost perpendicularly from the sea, one of the grandest spectacles in the world. Most of the mountains about Caracas are bare, the soil being red and sun-baked. Canyons are usually forested, as are also many of the mountain tops. The plain during the dry season is extremely arid and parched, but like our dry southwest the rainy season transforms such a waste into fields of waving grass and flowers. Irrigation is carried on extensively and fields of cane and other crops relieve the eye with their broad stretches of green. The little river Guaire flows thru the valley and most of its course is thru cultivated fields. Its banks are lined with dense brakes of cane. Coffee plantations are, much in evidence. They are very attractive to the eye of the traveller. The coffee bushes resemble a miniature orchard, the trees being planted in rows and of a dark green color. The blossoms are beautiful and are very fragrant. But the most curious feature of the coffee plantation is the magnificent, tall shade trees whose branches interweave far overhead, and keep the hot tropical sun from the delicate coffee bushes. These plantations are usually favorite bird haunts; and particularly so in the Caracas Valley where there are practically no native forests. In these coffee plantations birds are found in surprising numbers, and here the collector strolls back and forth, often not knowing which one of several desired species to shoot, so great is the variety of birds there. One tall tree growing in the coffee plantations bears red, star-like blossoms which contain a small fruit. This tree is as popular with the birds as our choke-cherry tree at home, and often most of a morning's collecting was done beneath one tree. At one time I have seen several species of hummers, coerébas, euethias, yellow warblers, flycatchers, several species of tanagers, orioles, paroquets, robin-like thrushes, grosbeaks and woodpeckers. The only difficulty encountered was the great height
