212 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 



of second growth. In forested areas it avoids the deep shade of the 

 lower levels but ranges across the high forest crown, where the un- 

 dulating upper surface of the leafy canopy affords an open hunting 

 ground suited to the life of a bird that elsewhere inhabits open fields 

 and savannas. 



^-< 



Fig. 42. — Large-billed hawk, cuiscui, Buteo magnirostris. 



The customary perch when at rest is shaded above but open at the 

 sides, so that the bird has clear view of its surroundings. The species 

 ranges mainly in lowland areas, from the landward side of the man- 

 grove swamps inland through the more open slopes of the hill country. 

 As clearing for farms has progressed it has become more common 

 at higher elevations, and now is seen regularly in the lower sub- 

 tropical zone in Chiriqui up to elevations of over 1,200 meters. 



