SECRETARY'S REPORT 35 



tremely helpful to members of this party and materially assisted in 

 the collection of marine animals. Drs. Clarke and Smith departed 

 for Washington from St. Croix, Virgin Islands, by air on April 19 

 and 20, respectively. Drs. Schmitt and Chace sailed from St. Croix 

 on the Alcoa Rwnner on April 23. 



Between September 2 and 26, 1955, W. L. Brown, chief zoological 

 exhibits preparator, visited Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks 

 to procure photographs and other background data for authentic 

 habitat settings for the grizzly-bear and elk groups. Alpine fir, limber 

 pine, various grasses, flowers, soils, and rocks were secured for the 

 bear group. At Gardiner, Mont., sage bushes and grasses were se- 

 lected and shipped for inclusion in the elk unit. 



On December 2, Dr. Alexander Wetmore, research associate and 

 former Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, reached Panama 

 for a further season of fieldwork concerned with the distribution of 

 the birdlife of the Isthmus. Work during the first month was devoted 

 to studies on the Kio Chagres, from a base at the Juan Mina field sta- 

 tion of the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory for Tropical Medicine, and 

 other investigations in and near the Canal Zone, including a few days 

 on Taboga and nearby islands. At the beginning of January, through 

 the interest of Dr. Alejandro Mendez P., director of the Museo Na- 

 cional of Panama, and of His Excellency Alejandro Remon C, Min- 

 ister of Government and Justice, Col. Bolivar Vallarino, Comandante 

 Jefe of the Guardia Nacional, kindly gave the necessary permission 

 and instructions for a month's stay on Coiba Island. This, the largest 

 island on the Pacific coast of Central America, has been the location 

 of the penal colony of the Republic of Panama since 1919. With the 

 friendly cooperation of Col. J. W. Oberdorf, commanding officer, 

 Albrook Air Base, transportation to Coiba and return on completion 

 of the work were arranged in an Air Force crashboat. On arrival 

 at the Colonia Penal on January 6, Dr. Wetmore and his two assist- 

 ants were assigned quarters by Capt. J. A. Souza, in command, and 

 were given all needed assistance in their work, which continued until 

 February 6. The island is covered with high gallery forest, with 

 mangrove swamps at the mouths of the numerous rivers. Clearings 

 for pasture and cultivation have been cut back of the convict work 

 camps, which are located along the Bahia de Damas and on the eastern 

 side north to Punta Aguja. The interior of the island, which rises to 

 an elevation of 1,400 feet, remains in its primitive condition, without 

 trails except in limited areas. Birds are common and of good variety, 

 though many of the familiar forest species of the mainland do not 

 occur in spite of conditions favorable to them. The heavy rainfall is 

 reflected in darker coloration in various of the smaller kinds, several 

 of which are new to science, some being remarkably distinct from 



