ore numerous about the lagoons of northern
Colombia. One of the best game-birds of the forest is the "crested
curassow" (_Crax alector_), sometimes weighing 12lb, which feeds on
arboreal fruits and rarely comes to the ground. Colombia also
possesses many species of the beautiful little humming-bird, among
which are the tiny _Steganura Underwoodi_ and the sword-bill,
_Docimastes ensiferus_, which were found by Mr Albert Millican on a
bleak _paramo_ 12,000 ft. above sea-level. One of the most interesting
birds found in the country is the "weaver-bird" (_Cassicus persicus_),
which lives in colonies and suspends its long, pouch-like nest from
the end of a horizontal branch of some high, isolated tree. In regard
to insects, what has been said of Brazil will apply very closely to
Colombia. Mosquitoes, butterflies, spiders, beetles and ants are
infinitely numerous, and some of the species are indescribably
troublesome.

_Flora._--The Colombian flora is richer in species and individual
characteristics than the fauna, owing in part to its greater
dependence on climatic conditions. It ranges from the purely tropical
types of the lowlands to the Alpine species of the more elevated
_paramos_. It should be remembered, however, that large areas of the
lowland plains have only a very limited arboreal growth. These plains
include the extensive llanos of the Orinoco tributaries where coarse,
hardy grasses and occasional clumps of palms are almost the only
vegetation to be seen. There are other open plains in northern
Colombia, sometimes covered with a shrubby growth, and the "mesas"
(flat-topped mountains) and plateaus of the Cordilleras are frequently
bare of trees. Farther up, on the cold, bleak _paramos_, only stunted
and hardy trees are to be found. On the other hand, a luxuriant forest
growth covers a very large part of the republic, including the
southern plains of the Amazon tributaries, the foothills, slopes and
valleys of the Cordilleras, a larger part of the northern plains, and
the whole surface of the Western Cordillera and coast. The most
conspicuous and perhaps the most universal type in all these regions,
below an approximate elevation of 10,000 ft., is the palm, whose
varieties and uses are incredibly numerous. On the eastern plains are
to be found the "miriti" (_Mauritia flexuosa_) and the "pirijao" or
peach palm (_Guilielma speciosa_), called the "