» ; 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
ADDRESS REPLY TO 
CHIEF, BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY, 
AND REFER TO 
May 26, 1920. 
t 
0-P 
Travel Instr. 
Dr. Alexander Wetmore, 
Assistant Biologist, 
Biological Survey. 
% 
Dear Dr. Wetmore: 
\ 
In accordance with your letter of authorization No. 403-Bi, 
approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, and effective May 5, 
1920, you are directed to proceed on May 20, 1920, or as soon 
thereafter as practicable, from your official station at Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and other points in Argen¬ 
tina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Chile, for the purpose of 
securing detailed information regarding the status of North 
American birds migrant in southern South America. 
On February 9, 1920, the Senate of the United States 
passed Resolution No. 56 of the Second Session of the 66th 
Congress, requesting the President to negotiate treaties with 
South American countries covering the protection of migratory 
birds. The President referred this matter to the Department 
of State, which asked the Department of Agriculture to make 
recommendation in the matter. The necessary information as to 
the status of our migratory birds in South American countries 
not being available in the Bureau of Biological Survey or else¬ 
where, it has become necessary to secure it. The Secretary of 
Agriculture has approved of your being sent to Argentina, Uruguay, 
Paraguay, Brazil, and Chile, for the purpose of investigating the 
species of migratory birds which visit those regions from the 
United States, to ascertain the conditions surrounding their so¬ 
journ in those countries, and the need and practicability of 
negotiating treaties covering their protection during their stay. 
This work will probably require an absence from the United 
States of ten or twelve months. The sum of $6000 has been agreed 
upon as the amount to be used to cover salary and expenses for these 
investigations, and care should be taken not to exceed it. The in¬ 
vestigations of especial importance that should be made on this trip 
are as follows: 
I 
