PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 
Vol. 95 Washington : 1944 No. 3179 
A COLLECTION OF BIRDS FROM NORTHERN GUANACASTE 
COSTA RICA 
By ALEXANDER WETMORE 
In THE fall of 1940, when opportunity came for me to visit Costa 
Rica and to study the birds of the northwestern Province of that 
country, a plan of many years’ standing was fulfilled. The U. S. 
National Museum, as a result of the early work of Juan Cooper, Wil- 
liam Gabb, Anastasio Alfaro, and José Zeledén, and the assistance of 
the last named to Robert Ridgway, had received many specimens of 
birds from the Republic, but among the numerous localities from 
which these came the Province of Guanacaste was almost wholly un- 
represented. Only a few specimens, received by gift or in exchange, 
had come from that area. As my time was limited it was necessary 
for me to concentrate on one area in the northern part of the 
Province. Here my investigations centered on the capital town 
Liberia and extended inland to the Volcén Rincon de la Vieja. 
In the arrangements for these studies, and during my most pleasant 
stay in Costa Rica, I was indebted to many friends. On my arrival I 
was received with every courtesy as the guest of the Government, 
and I have the happiest of memories of all those with whom I had 
association. Among these I must mention especially Licenciado Don 
Luis Demetrio Tinoco, Ministro de Educacién, and Licenciado Don 
Alberto Echandi, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores. My friend 
Dr. Juvenal Valerio Rodriguez, then Director of the Museo Nacional 
in San José, met me on my arrival in Puerto Limén and assisted me in 
every way throughout the period of my work. ‘To Sefior Don Juan 
Mufioz, Governor of the Province of Guanacaste, and to General 
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