SECRETARY'S REPORT 27 



Laboratory. Collecting in Panama this year was entirely in the 

 province of Bocas del Toro, on the Caribbean coast adjacent to 

 Costa Eica, a region of heavy rainfall witliout a distinct dry season. 

 Collections were made in the great swamps around Almirante and 

 Boca del Drago and at a cattle ranch near Changuinola. One of 

 the bats obtained is the third known specimen of a species last 

 collected in 1896, while another had previously been known only 

 from southern Mexico and southeastern Brazil. Several of the mar- 

 supials and rodents appear to be undescribed subspecies, and at least 

 two of the birds were second records for Panama. 



From mid-March to mid- April Dr. Handley and Mr. Rhymer 

 worked in Venezuela in cooperation with the Ministry of Agricul- 

 ture of that country, with headquarters in the National Park of 

 Rancho Grande in the coast range about 50 miles west of Caracas. 

 They sampled the desert fauna along the Caribbean coast, the cloud 

 forest on the mountaintops, and the arid savannas around Lake 

 Valencia in the interior. Most of the species obtained in Venezuela 

 have been poorly represented in the U.S. National Museum. Several 

 of the bats and one of the mice have not previously been reported 

 in Venezuela; one of the bats, although common locally, is the second 

 known collection of the species, recently described from Panama. 

 During the course of their work in Panama and Venezuela in 1960 

 Dr. Handley and his assistant collected and preserved more than 2,500 

 specimens of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, in addition 

 to a number of invertebrates and a few fishes. This significant ma- 

 terial includes several species new to the collections of the National 

 Museum and many others representing extensions of known geo- 

 graphical ranges. 



In his capacity as secretary of the American Ornithologists' Union, 

 Herbert G. Deignan, associate curator of birds, attended the annual 

 meeting at Regina, Saskatchewan, toward the end of August. 



Dr. Leonard P. Schultz, curator of fishes, made a trip to Miami, Fla., 

 and Bimini, Bahamas, July 6-11, for the purpose of locating molds 

 and casts of large fishes for the proposed Plall of Oceanic Life. On 

 October 30 he attended the dedication services for the new building 

 of the Bingham Oceanographic Laboratory at Yale University and 

 while there made extensive notes on fish specimens available for study, 

 with special attention to sharks and various reef -fishes. 



Between August 26 and September 5, Dr. William R. Taylor, 

 associate curator of fishes, and Robert H. Kanazawa, museum aide, 

 collected fishes m the Tennessee River and adjoining river systems in 

 Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, a particular desidera- 

 tum being specimens of fishes of the genus Notui^s needed for a re- 

 vision by Dr. Taylor which is nearing completion. Important ecologi- 



