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 RK^A. 



BY OUTRAM BANGS. 



In the spring of 11)05 wliik- Mr. Rol)ert Ridgway was in Costa 

 Rica, Mr. C. F. Underwood oftVrt'd liini for sale his entire col- 

 lection of l>irds. 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 l)onght the collection and 

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

 ;),o()5 skins, representing al)OUt Gil species and subspecies — 

 mostly' from Costa Rica, thougli a few came from Guatemala. 

 The collection had l>een kept by Underwood as a sort of type 

 series from Avhich 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 Ijy 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. (101) 



