REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 25 



Biology. — Field work in the study of the distribution and collec- 

 tion of birds and mammals of North Carolina, begun in the spring 

 of 1939 and continued until July, was opened again in the fall for 

 a period of a little over 2 months with W. M. Perrygo in charge 

 of the party and Charles L. Wheeler as assistant. Dr. Wetmore 

 and Mr. Graf visited the party when the men were located near 

 Mattamuskeet in October, and spent several days with them. The 

 work was concluded toward the close of November, with important 

 collections as the result. In the spring of 1940 Mr. Perrygo was 

 dispatched for similar work in the field in South Carolina, Southgate 

 Hoyt serving as assistant throughout the period, with John Calhoun 

 also as a member of the party during the early part of the summer. 

 All this work was carried on under the W. L. Abbott fund. 



In continuation of work in the vicinity of the archeological camp 

 at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, begun last year by Dr. Wetmore, M. A. 

 Carriker, Jr., was engaged in making collections of birds in this 

 area fi*om January to May. The resulting collections, together with 

 those that were obtained by Dr. Wetmore, constitute the most valu- 

 able series of birds yet assembled from this interesting area. Mr. 

 Carriker during this season made collections in the region of the 

 Tuxtla Mountains, which have been proposed for a national park, 

 and also supplemented his series from Tres Zapotes with material 

 from Tlacotalpan and from the coastal region south of Alvarado. 

 The investigations were carried on under the W. L. Abbott fund. 



Dr. Hobart M. Smith, traveling under the Walter Eathbone Bacon 

 traveling scholarship of the Smithsonian Institution, continued 

 throughout the year an exploration and study of the herpetological 

 fauna of Mexico, covering systematically that interesting region. 

 As a result of his work many beautifully prepared reptiles and 

 amphibians have been received at the Museum. Dr. Smith was still 

 in the field at the close of the fiscal year. 



Dr. Leonard P. Schultz, detailed to accompany the U. S. S. Bush- 

 nell as naturalist on the Naval expedition to the Phoenix and Sa- 

 moan Islands during the summer of 1939, returned on August 18 

 with large collections consisting of about 14,000 fishes, besides mol- 

 lusks, coelenterates, echinoderms, worms, and other marine inverte- 

 brates, reptiles, birds, mammals, and plants aggregating 2,000 or 

 3,000 specimens. 



As in past years, Capt. Robert A. Bartlett in his annual expedition 

 to Greenland waters brought to the Museum further valuable addi- 

 tions to the invertebrate collections besides a noteworthy collection 

 of Arctic plants. 



Austin H. Clark continued his work on the survey of the butterfly 

 fauna of Virginia, visiting different localities during the summer of 

 1939 and the spring of 1940. 



