Bulletin - United States National Museum - si-pddr - Smithsonian ...

2 BULLETIN 133^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
our foremost authority on Argentine birds, for information and
assistance in organizing field work in Argentina, and many valuable
details regarding the country. Dr. Roberto Sundberg, of the Defensa
Agricola, among others, was instrumental in securing permits
necessary for work in Uruguay, and Sefior Juan Tremoleras, of
Montevideo, an experienced naturalist, gave valuable information
regarding his country. In Valparaiso Dr. Edwyn Reed was most
cordial in arranging for work in the vicinity, and later forwarded
a number of valuable specimens from Juan Fernandez Island. Acknowledgment
is due also to many friends for courtesies in connec-
tion with the prosecution of field work, for living quarters in remote
sections, and for transportation where travel was difficult.
In subsequent work on the collections secured, loan of material
necessary for comparison has been obtained through the friendly
cooperation of the authorities of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum,
the American Museum of Natural History, and the Museum
of Vertebrate Zoology, while visits made to the four institutions
first named have permitted more comprehensive studies. Finally
acknowledgment is made of the constant advice of Dr. C. W. Richmond,
Associate Curator of Birds in the United States National
Museum, in particular with regard to obscure and difficult points
in nomenclature.
ITINERARY
In the following paragraphs is given an itinerary of travel performed
while engaged in the duties outlined in the preceding para-
graphs, with brief descriptions of the localities where specimens
were secured. These have been located as definitely as possible since
many of them are not shown in current atlases. They may be
found also on the accompanying map (pi. 1), where the route
followed is shown by a dotted line, and collecting localities are
indicated by a line drawn below the name of the place.
On June 21, 1920, after a 24-day journey from New York, I arrived
in Buenos Aires, where Dr. Roberto Dabbene, at the Museo
Nacional de Historia Natural, received me with the greatest cor-
diality and on this and many subsequent occasions accorded me the
freedom of the museum collections, gave me letters of introduction to
naturalists throughout Argentina, and aided in many other ways.
Several days were occupied in necessary preliminaries and in secur-
ing needed information. On June 29, during a day afield near
Berazategui, Province of Buenos Aires, distant 27 kilometers south-
east of Buenos Aires, I secured my first specimens of Argentine birds.
The region was one of level fields, with bordering lines of willows