1870.] MR. O. SALVIN ON THE BIRDS OF VERAGUA. 177 
get 703 species as an approximate estimate of the number of species 
included in the whole bird-fauna of Central America south of the 
Lake of Nicaragua. Considering how imperfectly several orders 
must be represented, we shall certainly not be estimating the whole 
number too highly if we place it at 720 species. 
The superficial area of Central America south of the Lake of 
Nicaragua is about 38,000 square miles, or an area about equal to 
two-thirds that of England and Wales; yet in this limited extent 
of country we find a considerably greater number of birds than in 
the whole of Europe ; in fact, the number nearly equals that of the 
whole continent of America, north of Mexico. 
The names of the places visited by Arcé in his collecting-expedi- 
tions are Calovevora, Calobre, Chitra, Boqueti de Chitra, Castillo, 
Laguna del Castillo, and Cordillera del Chucu. Many of these places 
are unmarked on the best map I can find, viz. that of Codazzi, pub- 
lished in Bogoté in 1864; but from Arcé’s letters I gather they are 
all situated in one district, near Calobre and Santiago de Veraguas, 
and are in what is called El Mineral de Veraguas. I also infer that 
Arcé’s collecting-ground has been almost, if not entirely, on the 
southern, or that slope of the main Cordillera which stretches towards 
the Pacific Ocean. 
The later collections, which bear the localities Mina de Chorcha, 
Bugaba, and Volean de Chiriqui, were all made since Arcé reached 
David, the principal village of the district of Chiriqui. These 
collections, too, were formed on the southern slope of the Volcano, 
the highest point reached being about 6500 feet above the sea. 
level. 
I hope yet to be able to fill in, on the accompanying map (Plate 
XVII.), all the names of the places above mentioned. In the 
meantime, those already supplied will give the general position of 
the districts explored. 
The publication by Mr. Lawrence of ‘A Catalogue of the Birdy 
found in Costa Rica’ (Ann. Lye. N. Y. ix. pp- 86-149) supplies 
an important addition to our knowledge of the isthmian avifauna, 
and enables me to review in a more complete manner the generaliza- 
tions I ventured to make respecting the relationship the birds of 
Veragua bear to those of the surrounding countries. 
In my former paper I stated that the portion of Veragua then 
explored showed that, as regards its birds, a rather stronger nume- 
rical affinity was exhibited towards Panama than towards Costa 
Rica, and a slightly closer comexion with the more northerly 
portions of Central America than with the adjacent southern conti- 
nent. But, owing to the incompleteness of our knowledge at the 
time of the bird-fauna of Costa Rica, I somewhat mistrusted the re- 
sult shown by the facts at my disposal. Partly owing to the explo- 
ration of the district of Chiriqui, and partly to the large amount of 
distributional knowledge acquired by the publication of Mr. Law- 
rence’s list, the relationship between bird-life in Veragua and in the 
adjoining countries now assumes to a great extent a different aspect. 
The bonds of union with Costa Rica are drawn much more close ; 
