PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM issued 1^ '^NvA, 0*^1 l>y the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM Vol. 89 Washington : 1941 No. 3105 NOTES ON BIRDS OF THE GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS By Alexander Wetmore Many years ago the Smithsonian Institution was fortunate in receiving small collections of birds from the elevated plateau of western Guatamala from Dr. C. H. Van Patten and from Osbert Salvin, with a few scattered contributions from other sources. These came at a time when Central American birds were just beginning to be well known, and the material was highly valuable to the studies of Baird, Ridgway, and other ornithologists of the day. The repre-sentation of species, however, was far from complete, and many of the specimens did not have the detailed data required in modern studies. Therefore I welcomed an opportunity that came in the lat-ter part of 1936 to visit Guatemala, both for the interesting studies that this offered and for the additions in needed material to the col-lections of the United States National Museum. My work covered the period from the latter part of October to the first days of Decem-ber and, except for a few observations around Puerto Barrios, was confined to the highlands above an elevation of 3,200 feet. The region examined included the slopes of the volcanoes of Agua, Aca-tenango, and Fuego, the vicinity of the beautiful lake of Atitlan, and the mountains above Tecpam, including one trip to the highland region of Desconsuelo in the Department of Totonicapam. Atten-tion was focused principally on the indigenous forms of the plateau and mountain area, and on the movements of the abundant migrant birds from North America. 270405—41 1 523
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