| |||||||||||||||
Items in cart [0]
| [ Top of Page ] [ Home ] [ Contact Us ] [ Help ] [ The National Academies Home ] | ||
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 596
OCR for page 597
ALEXANDER WETMORE
J
Tune 18, 1886-December 7, 1978
BY S. DILLON RIPLEY AND JAMES A. STEED
ALEXANDER WETMORE destined to become the most
distinguished American ornithologist of the nineteen
thirties and forties, to serve as the sixth secretary of the
Smithsonian, to be a member of the Academy from 1946 to
1978, and its home secretary from 1951 to 1955 was born
in North Freedom, Wisconsin, on June IS, I8X6. He died at
his home in Glen Echo, Maryland, near Washington, on De-
cember 7, 1978, of congestive heart failure. He is survived
by his second wife, Annie Beatrice Thielen, of Glen Echo,
and a daughter, Margaret Fenwick Holland. In his ninety-
two years he compiled a remarkable record of service to sci-
ence, both as an investigator and an administrator. We should
like to sum up his career as a scientific administrator, which
is less appreciated than it should be; to sketch an outline of
his scientific work; and to say something of Wetmore's per-
sonal, human side, which was perhaps not well understood
even by many who knew him.
PART I
Wetmore spent his early childhood in the small town of
North Freedom, the son of Nelson Franklin and Emma Ame-
lia (Woodworth) Wetmore. His father was a physician in the
tradition of the country doctor, traveling the countryside in
597
OCR for page 598
598
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
his horse and buggy. His mother kept the home and indulged
her bent for reading and study. His parents made his home
a place of books and ideas. On graduating from high school,
he chose to work his way through the University of Kansas.i
Wetmore attributed his interest in ornithology to Chap-
man's Handbook of Birds in Eastern North America, which his
mother gave him at age five. His first field entry, made in
Florida three years later, was an observation of the pelican:
"a great big bird that eats fish."2 More serious study followed,
and in 1900 Wetmore published his first note in Bird Lore,3
recording his observation of a red-headed woodpecker. At
first, Wetmore had planned to develop his interest in science
as a doctor, but once he found he could make a living as a
scientist, he changed his plans and concentrated on science
directly. Wetmore first worked in the University of Kansas
Museum. Then, in 191 I, he took leave to serve as an aide to
Arthur Cleveland Bent on a trip to the Aleutian Islands for
the U.S. Biological Survey. In 1912 Wetmore received his
B.A. from Kansas; he later earned an M.A. (1916) and Ph.D.
(1920) at George Washington University.4
Following graduation from Kansas, Wetmore rejoined the
U.S. Biological Survey as a field agent, rising to the posts of
assistant biologist in 1913 and biologist in 1924. He studied
the food habits of North American birds and had a chance
to meet many of the noted biologists of the day, especially
those about the Biological Survey and the National Museum
of the Smithsonian Institution. Among others, they included
'Alexander Wetmore, "Autobiographical Statement." (Washington, D.C.: Na-
tional Academy of Sciences, 1945), p. 1.
9 John Sherwood, "The Museum Life," The Washington Star, January 13, 1977, pp.
82-83.
'3 Alexander Wetmore, "My Experience With a Red-headed Woodpecker," Bird
Lore, II (October 1900): 155-56.
4"Alexander Wetmore Oral History Transcript" (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian
Institution Archives, April 18, 1974), p. 5.
OCR for page 599
ALEXANDER WETMORE
599
C. Hart Merriam, Leonhard Stejneger, Robert Ridgway,
Frederick C. Lincoln, Remington Kellogg, anti Hartley H. T.
Jackson. In 1911 Wetmore spent nearly a year studying the
avifauna of Puerto Rico and nearby islands. In 1920 the
Unitec! States signed a migratory bird treaty with Canada.
This took Wetmore to South America, where he spent a year
roaming from the Chaco in Paraguay to northern Patagonia,
surveying wintering grounds of North American migrants.
Nineteen twenty-three found Wetmore reacting the Tanager
expedition to the mid-Pacific, sponsored jointly by the Bio
logical Survey and the Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
In 1924 Wetmore moved from the Biological Survey to
the Smithsonian in order to become superintendent of its
National Zoological Park. His stay at the National Zoo was
brief, for he became the assistant secretary in charge of the
National Museum in that same year. In that capacity he was
responsible for overseeing the research and museum pro-
grams of the Institution in every field except solar radiation
and astronomy, which were assigned to Charles G. Abbot.
This change was significant for him and for the Smithsonian.
Wetmore never pretencled to enjoy administration. He ad-
mittect afterwards that he had always avoiclecI administrative
duty at the Biological Survey, either by leaving for the fielcI
or by sponsoring someone else for the post at issue. There
are those who come to find administrative work interesting,
an end in itself; to this group Wetmore clearly clict not belong.
Others become administrators reluctantly, never reconcile
themselves to the work, and do it badly. Some, like Wetmore,
do become reconciled anti perform well. Wetmore's moment
of choice, which he saw clearly as such, came with his 1924
shift to the Smithsonian. He believed the Smithsonian's way
of cloing business seemed least likely to hamper his research.
Considering his continued scientific output, he jucigecI
rightly. Wetmore remained there for twenty-eight busy years,
OCR for page 600
600
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
retiring as its sixth secretary in 1952. During that time he
accomplished a great clear, both as an administrator ant! as a
researcher.5
Those of us who are responsible for administering scien
tific programs often fee} confiner! by less than adequate re-
sources to support research. Yet many of us, now accustomed
to years of relative largesse from foundations and govern-
ment, forget-if we ever knew-just how limited support for
science was before World War Il. Wetmore, on the other
hand, lived his professional life with that reality. The work
he took up in 1924 must have been exceptionally ctiscour-
aging many times. Soon after his arrival the Institution began
to plan for an increase in its capital funds, only to see that
effort frustrated, first, by the death of Secretary Charles D.
Walcott in 1927 anti, second, by the onset of the Depression.
To make matters worse, the Smithsonian was losing an oIcler
generation of able staff members like Ales Hrdlicka and
Leonharc! Stejneger, and it often lacked the means to com-
pete effectively to replace them. Nor could it provide the level
of support from technical and clerical staff that the Institu-
tion's programs required. Salaries were low, even in compar-
ison with government departments like the Biological Survey.
Physical facilities were also a problem, one with which Wet-
more struggled throughout his career. Thanks to the Smith-
sonian's reputation ancT the support of its friends, its collec-
tions grew steadily. Thus the Institution, and especially the
National Museum, facet! a dilemma. On the one hand were
its collections, which increased at a great rate over the years.
On the other was a museum understaffed! by underpaid
workers, housed in inacloquate space, and lacking properly
funded support functions.6
Wetmore dealt with all these difficulties carefully and me
5"Wetmore oral history," pp. 3, 4, 9, 12.
6"Wermore oral history," pp. 24-25, 35.
OCR for page 601
ALEXANDER WETMORE
601
thodically. Some may have felt he was too careful. A fairer
evaluation reveals that he was agreeable to new ideas, but also
mindful of the practical realities of the times. It was impor-
tant to him that changes, when they occurred, should not
violate the Smithsonian's reputation or appear frivolous. The
first orcler of business was to obtain more money. The Insti-
tution, which hacI always stood in a special relation to the
government because of its status as a trust establishment, had
collected an assortment of functions that it performed, as
reflected in the seven different annual federal appropria-
tions. These lent a miscellaneous and unimpressive air to its
presentations. Gradually, the Smithsonian developed a uni-
fied presentation aimec! at a single appropriation from the
~7
government. /
At the same time the Institution took steps to revamp its
administrative practices. The nineteenth-century system of
chief clerks had lingered at the Smithsonian while other gov-
ernment offices reorganized themselves along more efficient
lines. Wetmore brought in a specialist in federal budgetary
procedures from the U.S. Bureau of the Budget, John
Kedcly. Keddy used his experience to make a more cogent
case for funds and programs to the administration and the
Congress. Subsequently Wetmore also brought in John Graf
to aicI in these reforms. Both later became assistant secre-
taries; but they are significant here for marking the Institu-
tion's turn, uncler Wetmore's direction, towarc! more profes-
sional management. Wetmore recognized the changing
realities with which the Smithsonian must cope.
A special aspect of Wetmore's duties lay in the area of
museum exhibits, and they presented something of a prob-
lem. The Smithsonian has always hacI a double function; that
7"Wetmore oral history," pp. 25-26. Frank A. Taylor oral history transcript,
(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Archives, February 27, 1974), pp. 83-
85.
OCR for page 602
602
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
is, it supports original research ant] carries out an educational
mission to the public, largely through its exhibits. It is not
possible that all staff members will be equally interested or
capable in both areas. Particularly in Wetmore's tenure, when
resources were so thinly spread, the exhibit function suf-
fered. Good exhibits that communicate effectively with view-
ers are astonishingly expensive, and there was little money to
spencI. In consequence, Smithsonian exhibits changed very
slowly, ant! the Institution sometimes found itself outclis-
tanced by other organizations' efforts. Finally, after World
War lI Wetmore, now secretary, approved plans for study
and consultation on ways to improve anct upciate the Insti-
tution's offerings. The process was necessarily a slow one, and
major results clid not appear until his successor's tenure, but
the beginnings were macle uncler Secretary Wetmore, whose
insistence on quality was well repaid by the outcome.8
In 1946 Alexander Wetmore had been secretary for two
years, and a member of the Smithsonian staff for twenty-two.
While he tract spent much time clearing with the Institution's
problems, that year brought the Smithsonian a new bureau,
the Canal Zone Biological Area, located in Panama (now
called the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute). It was a
great satisfaction to Wetmore to see this important center
established uncler the Institution's banner; in a work] now
beginning to be aware of the importance of tropical eco-
systems, his efforts must seem almost prescient. Still, old
problems clid not disappear for the Smithsonian. In 1945
Wetmore had urgect introduction of a bill in Congress autho-
rizing construction of a separate building for historical items;
a building for engineering and industrial collections, includ-
ing aviation; ant! more buildings for the National Zoo. None
were approves] at that time, but the need was clear to him all
the same. In his annual report that year on the condition of
8"Taylor oral history," pp. 85-87. "Wetmore oral history," pp. 46-48.
OCR for page 603
ALEXANDER WETMORE
603
the Institution, he iclentified several other pressing neecl~s:
adequate space for staff, greater support for research, and a
program to modernize exhibits. His slow, patient work, start-
ing in circumstances more meager than most of us can recall,
was to bear fruit in later years; but Wetn~ore's cliligent, pain-
fu! spaclework lent an important impetus to the hopes of
many for the Smithsonian's future. He took the measure of
the times and exerted himself with patience and skill in the
Smithsonian's behalf.9
.
PART II
From what we have already saict of Wetmore's aciministra-
tive activities, we might expect to find that his scholarly out-
put had fallen off to accommodate the demancts of managing
the U.S. National Museum. Far from it! By 1964 his bibli-
ography contained 708 entries. Of these, only 107 appeared
before 1924, when he began his administrative labors. He
began work on his magnum opus, The Birds of Panama, in
1944, the year of his appointment as secretary, anct had pro-
duced three of its volumes by 1972, when failing health
caused him to set it asicle. Altogether, quite a remarkable
record!
Alexander Wetmore was widely regardect as the clean of
American ornithologists. He workout extensively in the fielct
of avian paleontology and as a systematic specialist. For some
sixty years Wetmore produced a stream of papers on fossil
bircis. With over 150 such entries, and almost as many new
fossil taxa to his credit, he can certainly be said to have con-
tributect more to his field than any other single person.~°
Wetmore's most intensive work on fossil birds was done
9 Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1946 (Washington, D.C.: Smithson-
ian Institution, 1947), pp. 9-13.
~° S. Dillon Ripley, "Appreciation," in Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring
the Ninetieth Birthday of Alexander Wetmore, Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, vol.
27, ed. Storrs L. Olson (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1976), pp.
. . .
via, A.
OCR for page 604
604
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
after excitement over the spectacular nineteenth-century dis-
coveries of Mesozoic birds had faded, but before the rise of
much modern interest in avian paleontology. Apart from the
California school, he was for years almost the only student
engages! in research on fossil birds. For this reason birc! fos-
sils from all parts of the United States, as well as such widely
separated locales as Inner Mongolia and Bermuda, were con-
tinually referred to Wetmore's notice.
For years Wetmore cliligently maintained a card catalogue
of references from which he prepared three separate edi-
tions of a checklist of fossil bircts of North America. He also
prepared a(l(lresses, lectures, and entertaining synoptic pa-
pers designee! to keep colleagues posted on current devel-
opments in avian paleontology. All this he did in aciclition to
regularly proclucing many basic detailecT descriptions and di-
agnoses of new forms.
Wetmore's first paper on fossil bircts involved removing
Paleochenoides miocaenus from the Anseriformes to the Pele-
caniformes. R. W. Schufelcit, who had first clescribect Paleo-
chenoides, was not pleased by the younger man's action, but
Wetmore's judgment was souncI. lust recently the National
Museum received specimens possibly representing two new
species of Paleochenoides, ant! it seems that they may provide
a breakthrough in our understancling of these seabirds. Wet-
more's recognition of the true affinities of PaleochenoitZes was
a first step in this undertaking.
My own (S.r).R.) interests have long included the family
of rails; and it was a large flightless rail, Nesotrochis debooyi,
found in a Virgin Islands Indian miciclen, that provided Wet-
more's first description of a new bird from osteological re
mains. i3
" Ibid., p. xi.
' 2Ibid., p. xii.
Ibid., p. xii.
OCR for page 605
ALEXANDER WETMORE
605
Wetmore continucct to give attention to the extinct Pleis-
tocene birds of the West Indies, analyzing fossil avifaunas
from Puerto Rico, Haiti, Cuba, and the Bahamas. Among his
more striking discoveries was the giant Barn owl, Tyto ostologa,
of Haiti, which he had ctiagnosec! from a fragment of tarso-
metatarsus. As late as 1959, Pierce Broc~korb, in dedicating
a new fossil species of crow from New Providence Islancl to
Alexander Wetmore, remarked that he was "responsible for
all previous knowledge of fossil bircis of the West Indies."~4
Wetmore's chief paleontological efforts probably con-
cerned the identification and description of Tertiary birds
from North America, especially from the Eocene, Oligocene,
ant! Miocene terrestrial deposits of the western states and the
marine Miocene of the east coast. In these areas he laid the
groundwork for all future research.
At one time Wetmore's work on the extensive Oligocene
deposits of western North America stood almost alone and
was correspondingly important to students of that material.
But for Wetmore, some of the most interesting fossil deposits
were those found nearest home the Miocene marine beets
of the Chesapeake Group. Most of what we know of the birds
of these deposits is found in Wetmore's publications.
In 1939 Wetmore published a major paper concerning
the Pleistocene avifauna of Florida that established the pres-
ence of several bircts like the California condor and the
huge vulture Teratornis -then known only from the west, es-
pecially the Rancho La Brea Tarpits, in Florida. This paper
opened a fertile field of investigation in which Wetmore has
been followed by other scholars. In his many years of study
of paleornithology, Wetmore was often asked to identify ma-
terial from Pleistocene caves and from Indian middens, an
often unrewarding study, but one he pursued steadily all the
'4 Ibid., p. xii.
OCR for page 606
606
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
same. From such studies he published numerous notes show-
ing that the distribution of many modern North American
species was once far different than it is now. Together, these
studies have made a significant contribution to our knowI-
ecige of the effects of Pleistocene climatic changes on avian
distribution. ~5
These brief notes touch upon only a few of Alexancler
Wetmore's contributions to avian paleontology and their sig-
nificance for present and future research;' but perhaps they
at least serve to suggest the skill and devotion he spent on
this field across a professional lifetime.
Impressive as Alexander Wetmore's fossil studies are, his
work as a systematic specialist is yet more so. His arrangement
of the sequence of higher taxa of birds, "A Classification for
the Birds of the World" (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections,
139~111:~-37, 1960), still stands virtually unchallengecl. At
the time of his death he was trying to complete the fourth
volume of his monographic stu(ly, "The Bircls of the Republic
of Panama" (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, ~ 50~. The
volume of material he contributed to the National Museum
is immense: some 26,058 skins from North America, Puerto
Rico, Hispaniola, the Hawaiian Islands, Uruguay, Paraguay,
Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, and Central America. Of skel-
etal and anatomical specimens, Wetmore prepared and con-
tributect 4,363. The majority came from North America and
Puerto Rico; but ninny are from Central and South America,
especially Panama. Of eggs, Wetmore collected 201 clutches
from North, Central, and South America. These collections
may seem too large in retrospect, yet they form part of the
basic resource on which present and future work depends.
Today, specialists in taxonomic studies can appreciate the ef-
forts of meticulous collectors like Wetmore, who gathered
~5 Ibid., pp. xv, xvi.
OCR for page 616
616
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Observations on the birds of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and
Chile. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 133:1-448.
Report on a collection of birds made by I. R. Pemberton in Pata-
gonia. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool., 24:395-474.
Fossil birds from the Green River deposits of eastern Utah. Ann.
Carnegie Mus., 16:391-402.
With W. dew. Miller. The revised classification for the fourth edi-
tion of the A.O.U. check-list. Auk, 43~3~:337-46.
The Migrations of Birds. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
1927
A thrush new to science from Haiti. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 40:55-
56.
Fossil birds from the Oligocene of Colorado. Proc. Colo. Mus. Nat.
Hist., 8~2~:1-13.
The birds of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Colymbiformes to
Columbiformes. N.Y. Acad. Sci., Sci. Surv. Porto Rico and the
Virgin Islands, 9~3) :245 -406.
The birds of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Psittaciformes to
Passeriformes. N.Y. Acad. Sci., Sci. Surv. Porto Rico and the Vir-
gin Islands, 9~41:407 - 598.
The amount of food consumed by cormorants. Condor,29~6~:273-
74.
Our migrant shirebirds in southern South America. U.S. Dep.
Agric. Tech. Bull., 26:1-24.
1928
Bones of birds from the Ciego Montero deposit of Cuba. Am. Mus.
Novit., 301: 1-5.
Systematic position of the fossil bird Cyphornis magnus. Geol. Surv.
Can. Bull., 49: 1-4.
Prehistoric ornithology in North America. J. Wash. Acad. Sci.,
18: 145-58.
Zoological exploration in Hispan~oia. Copier. t~e~-wor~ man
son. Inst., Smithson. Publ. 2957:33-40.
The short-eared owls of Porto Rico and Hispaniola. Proc. Biol. Soc.
Wash.,41:165-66.
A new species of piculet from Gonave Island. Proc. Biol. Soc.
Wash.,41:167-68.
~TO - ~1 ~ ~ T 1 ~· . 1
OCR for page 617
ALEXANDER WETMORE
617
A new subspecies of flycatcher from Gonave Island, Haiti. Proc.
Biol. Soc. Wash., 41:201.
1929
New races of birds from Haiti. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 42: 117-20.
Descriptions of four new forms of birds from Hispaniola. Smith-
son. Misc. Collect., 81~13~:1-4.
Birds of the past in North America. Smithson. Inst. Annul Rep.
377-89.
1930
A systematic classification for the birds of the world. Proc. U.S. Nat
Mus., 76:1-8.
A new hummingbird from St. Andrews Island, Caribbean Sea
Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 43:7-8.
H. Kirke Swann. A Monograph of the Birds of Prey (Order Accipitres)
ed. Alexander Wetmore.
The ground-dove of Navassa Island. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.
43: 149-50.
The Rabie paintings of Haitian birds. Auk, 47:481-86.
1931
The bullfinch of the Ile a Vache, Haiti. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.,
44:27.
With Bradshaw H. Swales. The birds of Haiti and the Dominican
Republic. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 155:1-483.
Afield with the birds of northern Spain. Explor. Field-Work Smith-
son. Inst., 1930:49-58; figs. 39-49.
With Watson M. Perrygo. The cruise of the "Esperanza" to Haiti.
Explor. Field-Work Smithson. Inst., 59-66.
The avifauna of the Pleistocene in Florida. Smithson. Misc. Col-
lect., 85~2~:1-41.
With Albert K. Fisher. Report on birds recorded by the Pinchot
expedition of 1929 to the Caribbean and Pacific. Proc. U.S. Nat.
Mus., 79: 1-66.
With Witmer Stone, Jonathan Dwight, Joseph Grinnell, Waldron
DeWitt Miller, Harry C. Oberholser, T. S. Palmer, lames Lee
Peters, Charles W. Richmond, and John T. Zimmer. Check-list of
North American Birds, Prepared by a Committee of the American Or
OCR for page 618
618
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
nithologasts' Union, 4th ed. pp. I-XX; 1-526. Chicago: American
Ornithologists' Union. (Also in: The Fossil Birds of North America,
pp. 401-72.)
With Frederick C. Lincoln. A new warbler from Hispaniola. Proc.
Biol. Soc. Wash., 44: 121 - 22.
1932
With Frederick C. Lincoln. Description of a new tanager from Ile
a Vache, Haiti. Auk, 49(1 ~ :36 -37.
Robert Ridgway 1850-1929. In: BiographicalMemoirs ofthe National
Academy of Sciences, vol. 15, pp. 57-101. Washington, D.C.: Na-
tional Academy of Sciences.
Rain forest and desert in Hispaniola. Explor. Field-Work Smith-
son. Inst., 1931 :45 - 54.
Birds collected in Cuba and Haiti by the Parish-Smithsonian ex-
pedition of 1930. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 81:1-40.
1933
Bird remains from the Oligocene deposits of Torrington, Wyo-
ming. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 75:297-311.
Development of our knowledge of fossil birds. In: Fifty Years'Prog-
ress of American Ornithology 1883-1933, pp. 231-39. Lancaster,
Penn.: American Ornithologists' Union.
With Frederick C. Lincoln. Additional notes on the birds of Haiti
and the Dominican Republic. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 82:1-68.
Pliocene bird remains from Idaho. Smithson. Misc. Collect.,
87~201: 1-12.
1934
Fossil birds from Mongolia and China. Am. Mus. Novit., 711: 1-16.
A systematic classification for the birds of the world, revised and
amended. Smithson. Misc. Collect., 89: 1-11.
1935
The thick-billed parrot in southern Arizona. Condor, 37:18-21.
The type specimen of Newton's owl. Auk, 52:186-87.
1936
The number of contour feathers in passeriform and related birds.
Auk, 53:159-69.
OCR for page 619
ALEXANDER WETMORE
619
A new race of the song sparrow from the Appalachian region.
Smithson. Misc. Collect., 95~17~:1-3.
Two original photographic negatives of Abraham Lincoln. Smith-
son. Misc. Collect., 95~181:1-2.
1937
Ancient records of birds from the Island of St. Croix with obser-
vations on extinct and living birds of Puerto Rico. i. Agric. Univ.
P.R., 21:5-16.
Birds of the Guatemalan Highlands. Explor. Field-Work Smith-
son. Inst., 1936:23-30; figs. 17-24.
The Book of Birds, ed. Gilbert Grosvenor and Alexander Wetmore.
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.
Observations on the birds of West Virginia. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus.,
84(3021):401-41.
Bird remains from cave deposits on Great Exuma Island in the
Bahamas. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 80:427-41.
1938
A Miocene booby and other records from the Calvert formation of
Maryland. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 85:21-25.
Bird remains from the West Indies.1 Records from cave deposits
on Crooked Island, Bahamas. 2-Bird remains from a kitchen
midden on Puerto Rico. Auk, 55:51-55.
With the birds of northwestern Venezuela. Explor. Field-Work
Smithson. Inst., 1937: 19-26.
A note on fregata. Bull. Raffles Mus., 14~14~:47.
1939
Notes on the birds of Tennessee. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 86:175-
243.
Five new races of birds from Venezuela. Smithson. Misc. Collect.,
98~4~: 1-7.
Birds from Clipperton Island collected on the presidential cruise
of 1938. Smithson. Misc. Collect., 98~22~: 1-6.
Recent observations on the Eskimo curlew in Argentina. Auk,
56:475-76.
Observations on the birds of northern Venezuela. Proc. U.S. Nat.
Mus., 87: 173 -260.
OCR for page 620
620
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1940
Fossil bird remains from tertiary deposits in the United States. i.
Morphol., 66~1~:25-37.
An ornithologist in southern Mexico. Explor. Field-Work Smith-
son. Inst., 1939:31 - 36.
Two new geographic races of birds from Central America. Proc.
Biol. Soc. Wash., 53:51-54.
Notes on the birds of Kentucky. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 88:529-74.
A check-list of the fossil birds of North America. Smithson. Misc.
Collect., 99:1-81.
Avian remains from the Pleistocene of central {ave. I. Paleontol.,
14:447-50.
A systematic classification for the birds of the world. Smithson.
Misc. Collect., 99~7~: 1-11.
1941
Notes on birds of the Guatemalan highlands. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus.,
89:523-81.
An ornithologist
in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Explor. Field-Work
Smithson. Inst., 1940:21-26.
Notes on the birds of North Carolina. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus.,
90:483-530.
New forms of birds from Mexico and Colombia. Proc. Biol. Soc.
Wash., 54:203 -10.
The Dyche Museum at the University of Kansas. Science, 94:593-
98.
1942
New forms of birds from Mexico and Colombia. Auk, 59~21:265-
68.
Descriptions of three additional birds from southern Veracruz.
Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 55:105-8.
1943
With W. H. Phelps. Description of a third form of curassow of the
genus Pauxi. J. Wash. Acad. Sci., 33~5~: 142-46.
The birds of southern Veracruz, Mexico. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus.,
93:215-340.
An extinct goose from the island of Hawaii. Condor, 45: 146-48.
OCR for page 621
ALEXANDER WETMORE
1944
621
With W. H. Phelps. A new form of Myioborus from northern South
America. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 57:11-14.
A new terrestrial vulture from the upper Eocene deposits of Wyo-
ming. Ann. Carnegie Mus., 30:57-69.
Remains of birds from the rexroad fauna of the upper Pliocene of
Kansas. Univ. Kans. Sci. Bull., 30:89-105.
A collection of birds from northern Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Proc.
U.S. Nat. Mus., 95:25-80.
The subspecific characters and distribution of the new world skim-
mers (Rynchops nigra). Caldasia, 11: 111-18.
1945
Observaciones sobre la ornitologia de la zone sur de Veracruz,
Mexico. Rev. Soc. Mex. Hist. Nat., 5:263-71.
A review of the giant antpitta Grallaria gigantea. Proc. Biol. Soc.
Wash.,58:17-20.
A review of the forms of the brown pelican. Auk, 62:577-86.
1946
New forms of birds from Panama and Colombia. Proc. Biol. Soc.
Wash., 59:49-54.
With W. H. Phelps. Two new wood-hewers of the genus Dendroplex
from Venezuela and Colombia. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 59:63-
66.
A new species of duck from central Colombia. Caldasia, 4:67-71.
The birds of San Jose and Pedro Gonzalez Islands, Republic of
Panama. Smithson. Misc. Collect., 106~11:1-60.
New birds from Colombia. Smithson. Misc. Collect., 106~16~: 1-14.
1947
The races of the violet-crowned hummingbird, Amazilia violiceps. A.
Wash. Acad. Sci., 37~31: 103-4.
1949
Geographical variation in the American redstart (Setophaga ruti-
cilla).~. Wash. Acad. Sci., 39~4~:137-39.
With lames L. Peters. Remarks on the genus Ochetorhynchus Meyen.
Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 62:97-100.
OCR for page 622
622
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
A note on Corythus splendens Brehm. I. Wash. Acad. Sci.,39~7~:245-
47.
An additional form of the South American grasshopper sparrow.
Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 62:161-62.
With William H. Phelps, Jr. A new race of bird of the genus So-
odiornis from Venezuela. l. Wash. Acad. Sci., 39~11~:377-78.
1950
An additional form of pepper-shrike from western Panama. Proc.
Biol. Soc. Wash., 63:61-62.
The identity of the American vulture described as Cathartes burro-
vianus by Cassin. i. Wash. Acad. Sci., 40~12~:415-18.
Additional forms of birds from the Republics of Panama and Co-
lombia. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 63:171-74.
1951
With William H. Phelps, Jr. Observations on the geographic races
of the tinamou Crypturellus noctivagus in Venezuela and Colom-
bia. Boll Soc. Venez. Cienc. Nat., 13~771:115-18.
Additional forms of birds from Colombia and Panama. Smithson.
Misc. Collect., 117~21: 1-11.
Observations on the genera of the swans. }. Wash. Acad. Sci.,
41~10~:338-40.
Four additional species for Panama. Auk, 68:525-26.
A revised classification for the birds of the world. Smithson. Misc.
Collect., 117~4~:1-22.
1952
Recent additions to our knowledge of prehistoric birds. Proc. 10th
Int. Ornithol. Congr., Uppsala, 53-74.
With William H. Phelps, tr. A new form of hummingbird from the
Perija Mountains of Venezuela and Colombia. Proc. Biol. Soc.
Wash., 65:135-36.
The birds of the islands of Taboga, Taboguilla, and Urava, Panama.
Smithson. Misc. Collect., 1 2 1 (2~: 1-32.
1953
A record for Neodrepanix hypoxantha of Madagascar. Auk, 70(1 ~ :91.
With William H. Phelps, Jr. A race of forest-inhabiting finch from
OCR for page 623
ALEXANDER WETMORE
623
the Perija Mountains of Venezuela and Colombia. Proc. Biol.
Soc. Wash., 66:13-14.
With William H. Phelps, Jr. Notes on the rufous goatsuckers of
Venezuela. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 66:15-20.
Further additions to the birds of Panama and Colombia. Smithson.
Misc. Collect., 122~8~: 1-12.
1954
With Kenneth C. Parkes. Notes on the generic affiliations of the
great grebe of South America. i. Wash. Acad. Sci., 44~41:126-
27.
1955
Further additions to the avifauna of Colombia. Contrib. Cient.
Mus. Hist. Nat. Univ. Cauca (Popayan, Colombia), 2:45-47.
Paleontology. In: Recent Studies in Avian Biology, ed. Albert Wolfson,
pp. 44-56. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press.
1956
A check-list of the fossil and prehistoric birds of North America
and the West Indies. Smithson. Misc. Collect., 1 3 1 (51: 1-1 05.
With William H. Phelps, Jr. Further additions to the list of birds of
Venezuela. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 69:1-12.
Additional forms of birds from Panama and Colombia. Proc. Biol.
Soc. Wash., 69:123-26.
1957
The classification of the Oscine passeriformes. Condor, 59~31.207
9.
In memoriam: James Lee Peters. Auk, 74~2~:167-73.
The birds of Isla Coiba, Panama. Smithson. Misc. Collect.,
134~9~: 1-105.
With Herbert Friedmann, Dean Amadon, Frederick C. Lincoln,
George H. Lowery, ir., Alden H. Miller, James L. Peters, Frank
A. Pitelka, Adriaan I. van Rossem, ~osselyn Van Tyne, and John
T. Zimmer. Check-list of North American Birds, Prepared by a Com-
mittee of the American Ornithologists' Union, 5th ea., pp. i-xiv, 1-
691. Chicago: American Ornithologists' Union.
Species limitation in certain groups of the swift genus Chaetura.
Auk, 74~3) :383 -85.
OCR for page 624
624
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1958
The standing of the natural sciences in an atomic age. Spec. Publ.
Chicago Acad. Sci., 13: 13 -23.
Additional subspecies from Colombia. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.,71: 1-
4.
Miscellaneous notes on fossil birds. Smithson. Misc. Collect.,
135~81: 1-11.
1959
Birds of the Pleistocene in North America. Smithson. Misc. Col-
lect., 138~4~:1-24.
Description of a race of the shearwater Pu~nus Iherminieri from
Panama. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 72:19-22.
The birds of Isla Escudo de Veraguas, Panama. Smithson. Misc.
Collect., 139~2~:1-27.
1960
A classification for the birds of the world. Smithson. Misc. Collect.,
139~11~: 1-37.
Pleistocene birds in Bermuda. Smithson. Misc. Collect., 140~2~:1-
11.
1962
With Kenneth C. Parkes. A new subspecies of ivory-billed wood-
hewer from Mexico. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 75:57-60.
Systematic notes concerned with the avifauna of Panama. Smith-
son. Misc. Collect., 145(11: 1-14.
Notes on fossil and subfossil birds. Smithson. Misc. Collect..
145~21: 1-17.
1963
An additional race of the pileated tinamou from Panama. Proc.
Biol. Soc. Wash., 76:173.
An extinct rail from the Island of St. Helena. Ibis, 103b(31:379-
81.
Additions to records of birds known from the Republic of Panama.
Smithson. Misc. Collect., 145~6~: 1-11.
OCR for page 625
ALEXANDER WETMORE
1964
625
With }. I. Borrero H. Description of a race of the double-striped
thick-knee (Ayes, family Burhinidae) from Colombia. Auk,
81 (2):231-33.
A revision of the American vultures of the genus Cathartes. Smith-
son. Misc. Collect., 146~6~: 1-18.
Song and Garden Birds of North America. Washington, D.C.: National
Geographic Society.
1965
The birds of the Republic of Panama. Part 1-Tinamidae (tina-
mous) to Rynchopidae (skimmers). Smithson. Misc. Collect.,
December 27, 150: 1-483.
1966
Additions to the list of birds of the Republic of Colombia. L'Oiseau
Rev. Fr. Ornithol., 35~14~:156-62.
1967
Pleistocene aves from Ladds, Georgia, Bull. Ga. Acad. Sci.,
25~3~: 151-53.
With Clay G. Huff. Blood parasites of birds collected in four suc-
cessive years in Panama. Bull. Wildl. Dis. Assoc., 3:178-81.
Further systematic notes on the avifauna of Panama. Proc. Biol.
Soc. Wash., 80:229-42.
1968
With Richard H. Manville. Birds. In Natural History of Plummers
Island, Maryland, Special Publication, Washington Biologists'
Field Club, January, 1968. pp. 17-35.
The birds of the Republic of Panama. Part 2 Columbidae (pi-
geons) to Picidae (woodpeckers). Smithson. Misc. Collect.,
150: 1-605.
Additions to the list of birds recorded from Colombia. Wilson
Bull., 80~3~:325 - 26.
1970
Descriptions of additional forms of birds from Panama and Colom-
bia. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 82~591:767-76.
OCR for page 626
626 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1972
With Pedro Galindo. Additions to the birds recorded in Panama.
Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 85~25~:309 - 12.
The birds of the Isthmus of Panama. Bull. Biol. Soc. Wash., 2:21 1-
16.
The birds of the Republic of Panama. Part 3 Passeriformes:
Dendrocolaptidae (woodcreepers) to Oxyruncidae (sharpbills)
Smithson. Misc. Collect., 150:1-631.
1973
A Pleistocene record for the white-winged scorer in Maryland.
Auk, 90~4) :910-1 1.
The egg of a collared forest-falcon. Condor, 76~1~: 103.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
biographical memoirs