PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 87 Washington : 1939 No, 3073 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIRDS OF NORTPIERN 

 VENEZUELA 



By Alexander Wetmore 



An extended journey in the southern republics of South America 

 several years ago aroused a wish to know something in life of the 

 birds of the northern section of that great continent, a desire that was 

 finally gratified in the latter part of 1937 when arrangement was 

 made for field work in Venezuela. In brief, in this second journey 

 work began at the seacoast 50 miles west of La Guaira, was extended 

 inland to the higher levels of the CordiUera de la Costa at Rancho 

 Grande, and, with brief observations at Maracay in the valley of 

 Aragua, was concluded with a stay at El Sombrero in the northern 

 Orinoco Valley 80 miles due south of the capital city of Caracas. 

 The studies thus included a transit through the arid tropical zone 

 of the north coast, the subtropical rain forests of the coast range, the 

 open valley of Aragua, and the northern section of the llanos down 

 to that point where the blanket of thorny scrub that extends south- 

 ward from the hills on the northern boundary of that great level plain 

 begins to open out in the vast savannas that reach toward the Rio 

 Orinoco. 



The collections from the region included in the Parque Naciondl 

 serve as a link to join work done by earlier investigators in the 

 region of the Cumbre de Valencia and Puerto Cabello in Estado 

 Carabobo, and in the vicinity of Caracas. The region between Ortiz 

 and El Sombrero is one that has been loiown to ornithologists only 

 casually. 



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