INTRODUCTION 



priced books, with good colored illustrations, 

 covering the birds of those parts of the world. 



EXTERMINATION OF SPECIES 



There is another very important reason for 

 desiring a good public collection of the native 

 birds of Panama, and of other groups of 

 animals as well, and that is, to arouse the 

 interest of the public in them. We are con- 

 fronted with the unfortunate fact that not 

 only in the Canal Zone but in every part of 

 the Republic of Panama that is being opened 

 up by means of road building or that is ac- 

 cessible by water transportation, the wild 

 birds and animals are diminishing. This is 

 due in part to hunting or other intentional 

 destruction by man, and in part to the clear- 

 ing or burning of the forest, drainage of the 

 marshes for mosquito control, settlement of 

 the country,, and other effects of civilization. 

 Some of this is an unavoidable result of the 

 economic development of the country; much 

 of it, however, is the result of carelessness, 

 neglect, indifference and wanton and needless 

 destructiveness, which can be checked. 



There is no better way to accomplish this 

 than by arousing a general interest in the 

 wonderfully rich and varied wild life and 

 natural scenery in the Canal Zone and 

 Republic. In these things the region has 

 some of its most attractive features, affording 

 subjects for study of the most fascinating 

 kind whether it is taken up in an amateurish 

 fashion or in the serious manner of a profes- 

 sional scientist. The hope that this small 



XV 



