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Show 1878.] ON BIRDS FROM SOUTH AMERICA. 135 4. On the Collection of Birds made by Prof. Steere in South America. By P. L. SCLATER, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., and OSBERT SALVIN, M.A., F.R.S. [Received January 3, 1878.] (Plates XI.-XIII.) At the request of Prof. J. B. Steere, of the University of Michigan, U. S. A., we have had great pleasure in examining the collection of birds which he made during his recent transit across South America, from Para to Callao, and in determining and naming the specimens. In Nov. 1870, Prof. Steere went from Para first to Vigia, on the south bank of the Amazons, near the mouth, above fifty miles below Para. Returning to Para he next visited Arare, on the south side of the island of Marajo. On finally leaving Para for the interior, in June 1871, he ascended the river to Santarem, and from Santarem visited Obidos on the north bank. From Santarem he continued upwards to Manaos, or Barra, as it was formerly called, and thence made an excursion up the Purus river to Ituchy and Marrahan. Leaving Manaos in Oct. 1871, he ascended the main stream to Pebas, in Peru, where several skins, having the well-known "make" of Mr. Hauxwell (amongst which is a skin of Porzana hauxwelli, nobis), were procured. From Pebas Prof. Steere continued the ascent of the river to Barrancas and Pongo Manseriche, at the foot of the Andes, but returned downwards to the mouth of the Huallaga, and then ascended that stream to Yurimaguas, where he arrived in March 1872. Here the voyage by steam came to an end, and Prof. Steere proceeded across country, via Tarapota, Moyobamba, Rioja, Chachapoyas, and Caxamarca, to the Pacific coast at Truxillo. From Truxillo Prof. Steere kept along the coast, via Pacasmayo to Sorritos * and Tumbez, where, as will be seen by our notes, many of the local and interesting species of Western Peru were met with. From Tumbez Prof. Steere went to Guayaquil, and thence up to Quito and back. Next he proceeded to Lima by Callao, and made an excursion from the Peruvian capital up the Rimac and over the Andes, to the vicinity of Cerro de Pasco, returning finally to Callao. From Callao Prof. Steere sailed, in M a y 1873, for China and the Philippines, where he made those great discoveries in ornithology which have already rendered his name well known to ornithologists 2. 1 Sorritos I do not find marked in the maps; but Professor Steere tells us it is on the coast, about 20 miles south of Tumbez. 2 See Mr. Sharpe's memoir in Trans. Linn. Soc. n. s. Zool. vol. i. p. 307 et tcqq. (1877). |