REPORT ON BIRDS RECORDED BY THE PINCHOT 



EXPEDITION OF 1929 TO THE CARIBBEAN 



AND PACIFIC 



By Albert K. Fisher 



Senior Biologist, Bureau of Biological Survey, United States Department of 



Agi'iculture 



and 



Alexander Wetmore 



Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution 



The Pinchot South Seas expedition of 1929, organized by the Hon. 

 Gifford Pinchot, had as part of its objective the making of scientific 

 collections and the recording of the natural history of the regions 

 visited. The party left New York Harbor on the yacht Mary 

 Pinchot on March 31, 1929, traveled south to Key West, and through 

 the Caribbean Sea to Panama. The journey was continued through 

 the Panama Canal to various islands in the Pacific and on October 

 15 was terminated in Tahiti. Through press of time the party re- 

 turned by steamer to San Francisco. 



Through the cooperation of the United States Biological Survey 

 and the interest of Mr. Pinchot, the senior author accompanied the 

 party as one of the naturalists, devoting his attention largely to 

 birds but also studying and collecting in other groups. The collec- 

 tions of birds secured include approximately 500 skins and skeletons, 

 with a few eggs, collected and prepared with the assistance of 

 Mr. Pinchot and Gifford Pinchot, jr. Through the kindness of Mr. 

 Pinchot and the courtesy of the Biological Survey the material has 

 been deposited in the United States National Museum, where it 

 forms a most welcome accession, since in addition to one form new 

 to science it includes 22 others not previously represented in the 

 national collections. 



In the following report the senior author has supplied field notes 

 and observations, including some on species of birds of which skins 

 were not collected, while the junior author has identified the speci- 

 mens, and made such critical comments as seem pertinent. The 

 avifauna of the Caribbean islands and that of the Pacific islands are 

 so essentially different that for convenience the report that follows 

 is presented in two sections, the Isthmus of Panama serving as the 

 dividing line between the two geographic regions considered. 



No. 2876.— Proceedings U. S. National Museum. Vol. 79, Art. 10. 

 51730—31 1 1 



