CATALOGUE OF A COLLECTION OF BIRDS FROM 



GUATEMALA 



BY NED DEARBORN 



The collection of birds treated in this paper was derived from 

 three sources. Messrs. Edmund Heller and Charles M. Barber, who 

 spent the winter of 1904-5 in Guatemala making general collections 

 for the Department of Zoology, supplied 49; Mr. Barber, who con- 

 tinued the general collecting the following year, furnished 138; and 

 the writer, making birds his chief object, collected 1,000 during the 

 early part of the year 1906. The total number, then, is 1,187, com- 

 prising 305 species and subspecies, mostly skins, though several 

 skeletons and alcoholic specimens are included. All localities repre- 

 sented by specimens are indicated on the accompanying map, which 

 also shows the route followed by the writer. 



This route, for the most part, was the line of least resistance. 

 From Puerto Barrios, the port of entry, to El Rancho, the Guatemala 

 Northern R. R. furnished convenient transportation; and from 

 Guatemala City to Mazatenango and San Jose", by way of Esquintla, 

 the Guatemala Central R. R. was employed. Between El Rancho 

 and Guatemala City, and from Patulul to Tecpam and back to 

 Guatemala City, it was necessary to go on horseback, pack horses or 

 Indians being employed to carry luggage, according to which hap- 

 pened to be the more convenient. As a rule, however, an Indian mozo 

 is preferable to a horse as a carrier for packages of 100 pounds or less. 



The localities visited and the days spent in collecting at each, 

 are as follows: El Rancho, January 4th to nth; Los Amates, Jan- 

 uary i5th to February gth; Puerto Barrios, February i2th; Gualan, 

 February i4th to lyth; Lake Amatitlan, February 24th to ayth; 

 San Jose", March 5th to 9th; Mazatenango, March i5th to 2ist; Pa- 

 tulul, March 23d to April 5th; Lake Atitlan, April ;th to loth; 

 Tecpam, April nth to isth. The physical aspects of these places, 

 and the conditions encountered at each of them, have such a bearing 

 on the collection that a prefatory word concerning them is not im- 

 pertinent. 



El Rancho, the first stopping place, has an elevation of about 

 1,000 feet. Its dry season is long, and the rainy season is somewhat 

 uncertain. In January the earth presents a baked appearance. 



69 



