VOL. XIX, PP. 101-112 JULY 30, 1906 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



NOTES ON BIRDS FROM COSTA RICA AND CHIRIQUI, 



WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW FORMS AND 



NEW RECORDS FOR COSTA RICA. 



BY OUTRAN BANGS. 



In the spring of 1905 while Mr. Robert Ridgway was in Costa 

 Rica, Mr. C. F. Underwood offered him for sale his entire col 

 lection of birds. Mr. Ridgway at once wrote to John E. Thayer, 

 Esq., and myself, setting forth the great advantage it would be 

 to American ornithologists to have this collection come to the 

 United States. Mr. Thayer at once bought the collection and 

 in due time it was packed and shipped to us. It consisted of 

 3,365 skins, representing about 611 species and subspecies 

 mostly from Costa Rica, though a few came from Guatemala. 

 The collection had been kept by Underwood as a sort of type 

 series from which he might name specimens he secured, and 

 many of the skins had been identified by Salvin, the labels 

 bearing names and notes in his handwriting. Besides contain 

 ing representatives of most of the rarer Costa Rican species the 

 collection is rich in young birds in nestling plumage, and where 

 the series of a species is large, specimens both in freshly moulted 

 plumage and in worn, abraded condition can be found. The 

 dates on the labels cover nearly a score of years, and the col 

 lection is the result of Underwood's laying aside the better 

 things secured by him during this period. Such a collection is 

 invaluable. 



Mr. Thayer turned the whole lot over to me for identification, 

 and with help here and there from Ridgway, Nelson, Oberholser, 

 Richmond, and Riley, I have at last finished the work, which, 

 as usual, took a much longer time than I anticipated. At first 

 Mr. Thayer was undecided what to do with the collection, but, 

 noticing from time to time the great interest I took in it, finally, 



24 PROC. BIOL. Soc. WASH., VOL. XIX, 1906. 



