24 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1860 



In December, Dr. Herbert Friedmann, head curator of the depart- 

 ment of zoology, attended the meetings of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science, in Chicago. As chairman of 

 Section F, he gave an address on "Current Changes in the Environ- 

 ment of Zoological Research" at the zoologists' annual dinner. Dur- 

 ing the meetings he visited colleagues in the Chicago Natural History 

 Museum and discussed problems of mutual interest in connection with 

 his current research. 



The detailed survey of the birdlife of the Isthmus of Panama under 

 Dr. Alexander Wetmore, research associate and retired Secretary 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, continued early in January in the 

 tract of land on the Rio Frijoles near Gamboa that, tlirough a coopera- 

 tive arrangement with the Naval authorities in the Canal Zone, is 

 now available as an adjunct to the reserve on Barro Colorado Island. 

 Dr. Wetmore spent the last half of January investigatmg several 

 localities in the Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama. Collections 

 made on the islands of Contadora, Chapera, Saboga, Canas, Rey, 

 Santelmo, Malaga, and Bayoneta yielded useful details of distribution. 

 The remainder of the season from early February to the end of 

 March he devoted to studies near the Costa Rican boundary in west- 

 ern Chiriqui. The main station, through the kindness of Pablo 

 Brackney, was at the linca Palo Santo at 4,200 feet elevation, near 

 the base of Cerro Picacho. From here collections were made through 

 the plateau section at Tisingal, around the lakes and elsewhere, and 

 in the mountains to an elevation of 7,500 feet on Volcan Barii. A 

 brief visit to the Boquete area on the opposite side of the volcano 

 added to the collections several species of birds not found previously. 

 During the first part of March the work was concentrated on the 

 lowland region below Concepcion, where, through the friendly atten- 

 tion of Felix Espinosa, the party located on a finca at 2,200 feet ele- 

 vation. Tracts of forest were accessible in the upper valley of the 

 Rio Escarrea. The main investigations were made lower down 

 below Alanje, travel being by jeep over the sandy trails of the coastal 

 plain. The work here extended across savanna country with oc- 

 casional tracts of forest down to the seashore at Playa Barqueta and 

 Ensenada Rica. At the end of March, with the season's work com- 

 pleted, the party returned to the Canal Zone. 



With the cooperation of the Mexican Goverimient, the Smith- 

 sonian-Bredin Expedition for 1960 undertook to collect for study and 

 to report on specimens of the marine fauna and flora (algae) occurring 

 along the coast of Yucatan from Progreso east and south to Espiritu 

 Santo Bay, Quintana Roo. Five zoologists comprised the scientific 

 staff: Dr. Waldo L. Schmitt, research associate, Dr. J. F. Gates 

 Clarke, curator of insects, and Dr. Ha raid A. Rehder, curator of 

 mollusks, all of the Smithsonian Institution ; Dr. Franklin C. Daiber, 



