2 BULLETIN 133^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



our foremost authority on Argentine birds, for information and 

 assistance in organizing field work in Argentina, and many valuable 

 details regarding the country. Dr. Roberto Sundberg, of the De- 

 fensa Agricola, among others, was instrumental in securing permits 

 necessary for work in Uruguay, and Sefior Juan Tremoleras, of 

 Montevideo, an experienced naturalist, gave valuable information 

 regarding his country. In Valparaiso Dr. Edwyn Reed was most 

 cordial in arranging for work in the vicinity, and later forwarded 

 a number of valuable specimens from Juan Fernandez Island. Ac- 

 knowledgment is due also to many friends for courtesies in connec- 

 tion with the prosecution of field work, for living quarters in re- 

 mote sections, and for transportation where travel was difficult. 



In subsequent work on the collections secured, loan of material 

 necessary for comparison has been obtained through the friendly 

 cooperation of the authorities of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Mu- 

 seum, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Museum 

 of Vertebrate Zoology, while visits made to the four institutions 

 first named have permitted more comprehensive studies. Finally 

 acknowledgment is made of the constant advice of Dr. C. W. Rich- 

 mond, Associate Curator of Birds in the United States National 

 Museum, in particular with regard to obscure and difficult points 

 in nomenclature. 



ITINERARY 



In the following paragraphs is given an itinerary of travel per- 

 formed while engaged in the duties outlined in the preceding para- 

 graphs, with brief descriptions of the localities where specimens 

 were secured. These have been located as definitely as possible since 

 many of them are not shown in current atlases. They may be 

 found also on the accompanying map (pi. 1), where the route 

 followed is shown by a dotted line, and collecting localities are 

 indicated by a line drawn below the name of the place. 



On June 21, 1920, after a 24-day journey from New York, I ar- 

 rived in Buenos Aires, where Dr. Roberto Dabbene, at the Museo 

 Nacional de Historia Natural, received me with the greatest cor- 

 diality and on this and many subsequent occasions accorded me the 

 freedom of the museum collections, gave me letters of introduction to 

 naturalists throughout Argentina, and aided in many other ways. 

 Several days were occupied in necessary preliminaries and in secur- 

 ing needed information. On June 29, during a day afield near 

 Berazategui, Province of Buenos Aires, distant 27 kilometers south- 

 east of Buenos Aires, I secured my first specimens of Argentine birds. 

 The region was one of level fields, with bordering lines of willows 



