. A flying trip to the tropics. A record of an ornithological visit to the United States of Colombia, South America and to the island of Curaçao, West Indies, in the year 1892 . the week, but on Saturday after-noons I had a few hours which I usually devoted to rambling through the forests in the rearof the governmentreservation, on theLookout tor whateverbirds 1 might meet. One such afternoonm November, I hadreturned from a longtramp over vow rag-ged ground with atotal of three speciesof birds observed :a pair of crows, adowny woodpecker,ami a little band o\st\ tomtits, — verymeagre results fo
. A flying trip to the tropics. A record of an ornithological visit to the United States of Colombia, South America and to the island of Curaçao, West Indies, in the year 1892 . the week, but on Saturday after-noons I had a few hours which I usually devoted to rambling through the forests in the rearof the governmentreservation, on theLookout tor whateverbirds 1 might meet. One such afternoonm November, I hadreturned from a longtramp over vow rag-ged ground with atotal of three speciesof birds observed :a pair of crows, adowny woodpecker,ami a little band o\st\ tomtits, — verymeagre results for thoseven or eight milesthat 1 had gone over;and I was complainingabout tt to my tho course of ourconversation, 1 waslod on to remark upon what 1 considered must bo tho enjoyment ofa naturalist who finds himself for tho first tune in tho tropics,surrounded by tho most Luxuriant vegetation : where every objectwould be o( tho deepest interest to him; where every bird, insect that ho should see would ho now to him. and conse-quently afford him the same pleasure as if ho had discovered tthimself. Imagine his delight when, after having tired at some hud. THE VOYAGE. moving among the thick branches of a palm, he should pick up atrogon or humming-bird, brilliant with the colors of the most beau-tiful gems. At this point my wife said, Well, why dont we go tothe tropics some time? and when we came to talk the matter over,there was really no unanswerable objection against our going; andso from that time we began to make plans for our trip. My first act was to write to my brother Cabell, tell him of ourproject, and ask him to join us, to which he immediately repliedthat he would. In selecting the point to be visited, there were a number of con-siderations that cameup. First, our timewould be limited;for which reason weshould strike for thenearest point, so asto spend as little timeas possible in goingand coming. Thisindicated the WestIndies or CentralAmerica; but ou
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectnaturalhistory
