FAMILY ACCIPITRIDAE 187 



forehead, sides of head, ring around hind neck, and under surface, 

 including under wing coverts, white. The head is entirely white in 

 some, except for a small area in the center of the crown. 



Immature in dark phase, the upper surface, head, throat, and 

 upper breast black ; rest of the lower surface white, heavily streaked 

 with black. In some the white streaking extends also over the fore- 

 neck and upper breast. 



An adult female taken near Mandinga, Comarca de San Bias, on 

 February 8, 1957, had the iris hazel brown ; cere and extreme base of 

 maxilla neutral gray; rest of maxilla, and sides of mandible for distal 

 half, including the tip, dark neutral gray ; bare space on side of head, 

 including eyelids, space above eye, lores, gape, base of mandible, distal 

 half of gonys, side of maxilla below nostril, and inside of the nares, 

 including the outer edge of the operculum, light bluish gray; tarsus 

 pale neutral gray; scutes of toes light neutral gray; under side of 

 toes brownish white ; claws black. 



Measurements. — Males (5 from Panama and northern Colombia), 

 wing 292-302 (297), tail 199-215 (206), culmen from cere 23.6-25.0 

 (24.3), tarsus 43.0-49.6 (45.9) mm. 



Females (5 from Panama and northern Colombia), wing 307-326 

 (314), tail 218-242 (228), culmen from cere 24.5-26.6 (25.4), tarsus 

 42.0-44.0 (42.9) mm. 



Resident. Fairly common in forested areas in the tropical and sub- 

 tropical zones. Records to date do not include Col6n, or Code, where 

 the species should be found, nor is it reported from the eastern side 

 of the Azuero Peninsula, or from any of the larger islands. 



While a species that is widely spread through the isthmus, it is 

 comparatively little known, since it ranges in the high tree crown of 

 the forests where it is concealed in the leafy canopy. Although most 

 frequent in unbroken forest, in the savanna country on the Pacific 

 slope it comes in lesser number into the lines of trees along the banks 

 of streams and marshes, as around La Jagua. 



Cayenne kites soar regularly and are observed sometimes in early 

 morning on tall dead stubs, but on the whole they are seen mainly 

 by chance through some small opening in the high leafy cover. To- 

 ward the end of the dry season they begin to call, a loud kek kek kek 

 kek, repeated at short intervals, a sound that carries far. At such 

 times they rest on high dead branches that look out over the forest. 

 Others widely separated, to the number of two or three, may answer. 

 Though one that I followed and shot proved to be a female, it is my 

 assumption that the call is given by both sexes. I have heard the 



