PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



issued 1^ '^NvA, 0*^1 l>y the 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 89 Washington : 1941 No. 3105 



NOTES ON BIRDS OF THE GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS 



By Alexander Wetmore 



Many years ago the Smithsonian Institution was fortunate in 

 receiving small collections of birds from the elevated plateau of 

 western Guatamala from Dr. C. H. Van Patten and from Osbert 

 Salvin, with a few scattered contributions from other sources. These 

 came at a time when Central American birds were just beginning to 

 be well known, and the material was highly valuable to the studies 

 of Baird, Ridgway, and other ornithologists of the day. The repre- 

 sentation of species, however, was far from complete, and many of 

 the specimens did not have the detailed data required in modern 

 studies. Therefore I welcomed an opportunity that came in the lat- 

 ter part of 1936 to visit Guatemala, both for the interesting studies 

 that this offered and for the additions in needed material to the col- 

 lections of the United States National Museum. My work covered 

 the period from the latter part of October to the first days of Decem- 

 ber and, except for a few observations around Puerto Barrios, was 

 confined to the highlands above an elevation of 3,200 feet. The 

 region examined included the slopes of the volcanoes of Agua, Aca- 

 tenango, and Fuego, the vicinity of the beautiful lake of Atitlan, 

 and the mountains above Tecpam, including one trip to the highland 

 region of Desconsuelo in the Department of Totonicapam. Atten- 

 tion was focused principally on the indigenous forms of the plateau 

 and mountain area, and on the movements of the abundant migrant 

 birds from North America. 



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