PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM issued |^jfvA_ 0*Ml ^y '^^ 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 Jose Zeledon, 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 udand to the Volcan 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 Educacion, and Licenciado Don Alberto Echandi, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores. My friend Dr. Juvenal Valerio Rodriguez, then Director of the Museo Nacional in San Jose, met me on my arrival in Puerto Limon and assisted me in every way throughout the period of my work. To Senor Don Juan Muiioz, Governor of the Province of Guanacaste, and to General 25 577075 — 44 1
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