Page:Condor7(6).djvu/4

 THE. CO.I'IB.OR Volume VII November-December lc)o Number 6 A Winter with the Birds in Costa Rica BY ROBERT RIDGWAY WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR ROBABLY every ornithologist has hoped sometime in his life to visit the Tropics and see for himself the many wonderful things of which he has heard or read so much, and especially to see alive and in their natural en- vironment, the strange and beautiful birds so inseparably associated in his mind with tropical lands. I had myself for many years looked forward tothe possibility of such an enjoyable experience, but without serious expectation that my hope would ever be realized until the receipt of a cordial invitation from my friend Don Josd C. Zeledon, of San Josd, Costa Rica, offered the desired opportunity, and I ac- cordingly started for Costa Rica, accompanied by my wife, on November 28, 9o4. Arriving in San Jos on December 8, we remained until May 28, 9o5, our stay therefore covering a period of nearly six months, during which the country was traversed from ocean to ocean and from sea-level to the highest point ot land, the summit of Irazfi,  5oo feet in elevation. Owing to negligence of the express company to which it had been consigned ior shipment, my outfit did not reach me until February' 26, 9o5. No collecting could therefore be done during the first two months; but the time was in part profitably employed in making trips todifferent points in order to look up the most promising and convenient locations for collecting. In this preliminary work, as well as in the subsequent collecting trips every possible assistance was rendered by my friends Don Josd C. Zeledon and Don Anastasio Alfaro, Director of the Costa Rica National Museum, one or the other, sometimes both, of whom accom- panied me on each occasion. One could not desire more agreeable or helpful corn-