WITH THE BIRDS OF NORTHWESTERN VENEZUELA 



By ALEXANDER WETMORE 

 Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian- Institution 



After a field acquaintance of a year with the birdlife of the southern 

 republics of South America it has long been my desire to make simi- 

 lar studies in the northern part of that great continent. Opportunity 

 for this finally came when on October 16, 1937, I arrived in Caracas, 

 Venezuela. Through the friendly cooperation of the American Minis- 

 ter, Mr. Meredith Nicholson, and the gracious assistance of Dr. E. Gil 

 Borges, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores of Venezuela, the neces- 

 sary permissions for travel and for collecting specimens were quickly 

 arranged. The Minister of the Departmento de Agricultura y Cria, 

 Sr. H. Parra Perez, and the Director de Tierras Baldias, Bosques 

 y Aguas, Sr. Miguel Parra Sanoja of the same department, were 

 deeply interested in my proposed studies and afforded the fullest 

 cooperation. 



Field-work began at Maracay on October 21 in company with Mr. 

 Ventura Barnes, who accompanied me on many days afield and whose 

 knowledge of local conditions was invaluable. The following day 

 Dr. Henri Pittier, the veteran botanist, strong and active at the age 

 of 80, took me into the great Parque Nacional recently established 

 by the Venezuelan Government as a wild life reserve. 



Beginning near Guamitas 14 kilometers northwest of Maracay, this 

 huge reservation extends over the mountain range of the Cordillera 

 de la Costa, and down across the northern lowlands to the sea. The 

 far-sighted policy on the part of the Government in establishing this 

 park at the present time must have the highest commendation of all 

 interested in conservation since it will preserve for the future areas 

 of forest and other natural resources that would otherwise have been 

 lost forever through commercial exploitation. 



My quarters here were first in a house belonging to the Department 

 of Agriculture, located back of the beach near Ocumare de la Costa. 

 Rocky headlands extended into the sea on either side, and a rushgrown 

 lagoon lay back of the wave-washed sands of the beach. Inland a 

 level, open plain led to steep, rocky hills, grown with huge cacti and 

 thorny shrubs. 



The open brush swarmed with birds, abundant not only individually 

 but with great variety in species. Tiny hummingbirds, brilliant green 

 in color, and yellow-breasted honey creepers swarmed about the deli- 



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