FAMILY ACCIPITRIDAE 23 1 



form of the scutes on the lower end of the tarsus and in length of 

 wing tip, but the loral area is more nearly bare, as it has only a line 

 of hairlike filaments at the anterior margin. Buteogallus gundlachii 

 of Cuba, however, bridges the gap between the two groups as in its 

 tarsal characters the distal space at the lower end in front breaks up 

 into a series of small scutes, more extensive in length than in 

 anthracimis, but less than in uriibitinga. In addition, B. gundlachii 

 has a longer wing tip like anthracinus, and agrees in heavier feather- 

 ing of the anterior part of the head with urubitinga. From this sum- 

 mary it is evident that separation of the four species in two genera 

 is not warranted. 



BUTEOGALLUS URUBITINGA RIDGWAYI (Gurney) 



Urubitinga ridgwayi Gurney, List Diurnal Birds Prey, 1884, pp. 77, 148. (Guate- 

 mala, Chiapas, and Sinaloa = Coban, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, designated by 

 Hellmayr and Conover, Cat. Birds Amer., pt. 1, no. 4, 1949, p. 181.) 



Characters. — Tail in adult white, with a broad black terminal band, 

 and a second narrower one of the same color above the center. 



Measurements. — Males (9 from Panama), wing 363-377 (369), 

 tail 221-250 (231.8), culmen from cere 29.0-32.6 (30.6, average of 

 8), tarsus 114.8-125.0 (121.3) mm. 



Females (5 from Panama), wing 360-391(371), tail 227-245 (234), 

 culmen from cere 32.0-34.0 (32.9), tarsus 114.7-120.0 (117.1). 



Resident. Tolerably common in the tropical zone, rarer in the 

 lower subtropical zone in western Chiriqui. On the Caribbean coast 

 from the Costa Rican boundary to Bahia Caledonia. San Bias ; on 

 the Pacific side from western Chiriqui to Darien (specimens seen from 

 the mouth of the Rio Canglon on the Chucunaque, and Boca de 

 Paya on the Tuira). 



These are woodland birds of the more open areas, and in heavy 

 forest they are found mainly near the larger streams. Adults usually 

 range in pairs, which rise to soar in the manner common to many 

 of their family. At such times they often appear completely black 

 against the sky, their rounded wings and broad tails giving them a 

 square-cut outline. Immature individuals, in streaked dress, usually 

 are found alone. 



Frogs form a principal source of food, and the birds in search 

 of them rest regularly on low perches, or on the ground, near small 

 pools and along stream banks, often in open pastures and fields. 

 Lizards also, particularly the basilisk, are eaten. 



Nests that I have seen have been located in large forest trees from 

 12 to 20 meters from the ground, where they were inaccessible. They 



