1878.] ON BIRDS FROM SOUTH AMERICA. 135 



4. On the Collection of Birds made by Prof. Steere in South 

 America. By P. L. Sclater, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., 

 and Osbert Salvin, M.A., F.R.S. 



[Received January 3, 1878.] 

 (Plates XI.-XIII.) 



At the request of Prof. J. B. Steere, of the University of Michi- 

 gan, U. S. A., we have had great pleasure in examining the collection 

 of birds which he made during his recent transit across South Ame- 

 rica, from Para to Callao, and in determining and naming the speci- 

 mens. 



In Nov. 1870, Prof. Steere went from Para first to Vigia, on the 

 south bank of the Amazons, near the mouth, above fifty miles below 

 Para. Returning to Para he next visited Arare, on the south side 

 of the island of Marajo. On finally leaving Para for the interior, 

 in June 1871, he ascended the river to Santarem, and from Santarem 

 visited Obidos on the north bank. From Santarem he continued 

 upwards to Manaos, or Barra, as it was formerly called, and thence 

 made an excursion up the Purus river to Ituchy and Marrahan. 

 Leaving Manaos in Oct. 1871, he ascended the main stream to 

 Pebas, in Peru, where several skins, having the well-known "make" of 

 Mr. Hauxwell (amongst which is a skin oiPorzana hauxwelli, nobis), 

 were procured. From Pebas Prof. Steere continued the ascent of 

 the river to Barrancas and Pongo Manseriche, at the foot of the 

 Andes, but returned downwards to the mouth of the Huallaga, and 

 then ascended that stream to Yurimaguas, where he arrived in 

 March 1872. 



Here the voyage by steam came to an end, and Prof. Steere pro- 

 ceeded across country, via Tarapota, Moyobamba, Rioja, Chacha- 

 poyas, and Caxamarca, to the Pacific coast at Truxillo. From 

 Truxillo Prof. Steere kept along the coast, via Pacasmayo to 

 Sorritos ' and Tumbez, where, as will be seen by our notes, many 

 of the local and interesting species of Western Peru were met with. 

 From Tumbez Prof. Steere went to Guayaquil, and thence up to 

 Quito and back. Next he proceeded to Lima by Callao, and made 

 an excursion from the Peruvian capital up the Rimac and over the 

 Andes, to the vicinity of Cerro de Pasco, returning finally to Callao. 

 From Callao Prof. Steere sailed, in May 1873, for China and the 

 Philippines, where he made those great discoveries in ornithology 

 which have already rendered his name well known to ornitholo- 

 gists 2 . 



1 Sorritos I do not find marked in the maps ; but Professor Steere tells us it 

 is on the coast, about 20 miles south of Tumbez. 



2 See Mr. Sharpe's memoir in Trans. Linn. Soc. n. s. Zool. vol. i. p. 307 et 

 tcgq. (1877). 



