350 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ber " ; the center of the back and rump are barred with " tawny " ; 

 the wing coverts are barred with " cinnamon-bufi' "; the remiges are 

 tipped, and mottled on the outer edge, and the rectrices are tipped 

 with "cinnamon-bull"; the rectrices are decidedly pointed. In the 

 9-inch specimen referred to above, the head, neck, center of breast, 

 and belly are still downy, evidently the last parts to be feathered; 

 the juvenal plumage coming in on the sides of the breast is " Sac- 

 cardo's umber," while that on the flanks and belly is " cinnamon- 

 buff "; these two colors are sharply defined in the juvenal plumage 

 and not intergraded or blended, as in the adult. 



Apparently the juvenal plumage is worn only a very short time, 

 and a complete molt soon produces a practically adult plumage. I 

 could find no traces of juvenal feathers in fully grown fall or winter 

 birds. I have seen evidences of a complete molt in adults in August 

 and September. Mr. Farmer says that they molt only once a year, 

 in September and October. He also says that the naked places show- 

 ing on each side of the chin are of a grayish flesh color, alike in male 

 and female, except during courtship in spring, when the male's 

 patches become red. 



Food. — Mr. Farmer says that the food of the chachalaca consists 

 principally of berries, though they do catch bugs, and sometimes in 

 spring when the buds are tender they " bud " hackberry or other 

 trees. In captivity the tame birds eat bread and crackers or chopped- 

 up meat, and they are especially fond of milk, particularly when 

 young, and will relish any kind of fruits, particularly apples and 

 bananas. They are especially fond of raw, chopped-up rabbit. 



Behavior. — Mr. Kennard has seen chachalacas fly silently and 

 swiftly over the tops of the chaparral, alight heavily in the top of a 

 tree, and hop down from limb to limb without opening the wings. 

 Mr. Farmer once came upon a bunch of 9 or 10 chachalacas follow- 

 ing an opossum, teasing it and attacking it, but paying no attention 

 to him even after he had killed some of them. 



Sennett (1878) writes: 



Several times, when well concealed, I have noticed a pair spring from a 

 thicket into a large tree, jump from limb to limb close to the body until they 

 reached the top, when they would walk out to the end of the branch and begin 

 their song. They roost in trees, and hunters frequently get them at night. 

 Barely did I see them on the ground. Once, while resting in a mesquite grove 

 which looked very much like a peach-orchard on a well-kept lawn, I saw a 

 Chachalaca trot out from a neighboring thicket in full view. He seemed looking 

 for food on the ground. He discovered me and we eyed each other for a 

 moment, when it turned, ran a short distance, sprang into the lower branches of 

 a tree, and hopping along from tree to tree disappeared into the thicket about 

 five feet from the ground. 



Voice. — The remarkable vocal performances of this species are its 

 most interesting and striking habits. They are difficult to describe, 



