Mr. 0. Salvm on the Ornithology of Guatemala. 201 
Corrections to the former Papers on the Ornithology of Central 
America. 
In our introductory remarks (Ibis, 1859, p. 4) we somewhat 
prematurely stated that the part of Central America of which 
we were speaking embraced three distinct regions—the Atlantic 
coast-region, the Central region or tablelands, and the Pacific 
coast-region, and that the two coast-faunas were quite distinct, 
the same species seldom occurring in both. In order to show 
how this view must be modified, and in a great measure altered, 
I will briefly state how the 612 birds are distributed, and how 
much peculiarity is possessed by each division. As the central 
country is deeply cut by valleys—those of the Motagua and 
some of the southern branches of the Rio Chisoy or Negro, such 
as the river of San Geronimo—all of which open out into plains 
of considerable extent, viz. those of Zacapa (1200 feet above 
the sea), Salama (3000 feet), Rabinal, Cubulco, and so on, the 
vegetation of which consists of open grassy savannas broken by 
patches of Mimosce and Cacti , I shall begin by considering this 
a separate district, and also the highland (peninsula of cold 
country I may call it) district of Alta Vera Paz. 189 species 
were observed in the Pacific coast-region, 280 in the tablelands 
of the Cordillera, i. e. at 4000 feet of elevation and upwards, 132 
in the central plains and valleys, 214 in Alta Vera Paz, and 
309 in the Atlantic coast-region. 31 of the Pacific coast-region 
birds were observed only there; the number of species peculiar 
to each of the other districts were observed to be 63 in the 
tablelands, 11 in the central plains, 26 in Alta Vera Paz, and 
149 in the Atlantic coast-region. Most of the remaining 
species of the Pacific coast-region belong also to that of the 
Atlantic, and only a few to the tablelands. The tablelands 
and Alta Vera Paz have more species in common than either 
has with any lowland region, and the central plains and valleys 
belong rather to the terra caliente than to the upland districts. 
After deducting from the number of species apparently pecu¬ 
liar to each region such as are really of much wider range, we 
find but little, except perhaps poverty of species, to separate the 
Pacific coast-region and the central plains and valleys from the 
