FAMILY ACCIPITRIDAE 233 



neck, and upper back, white, often mixed with cinnamon-buff ; inner- 

 most primaries and secondaries more or less cinnamon on inner webs, 

 barred with black; tail barred, narrowly and irregularly, and tipped 

 with white; throat white, with shaft lines of fuscous; under tail 

 coverts and tibia white barred with fuscous; breast and abdomen 

 white, blotched heavily with fuscous ; under wing buffy white, barred 

 irregularly with fuscous except for the dark tips of the primaries. 

 The amount of the light markings underneath varies, some having 

 the fuscous color restricted to heavy streaks, others appearing quite 

 black. Many show a rufescent phase in which the light markings are 

 cinnamon instead of white or buffy white. 



As stated in the account of the greater black hawk, care is necessary 

 to separate that species and the present one unless the birds are seen 

 clearly. The lesser black hawk has the cere, base of the bill, and 

 the loral area distinctly orange-yellow, which is a definite field mark. 

 Though less in evidence in birds in immature dress this area still 

 appears more yellowish in good light. The fully adult bird lacks the 

 white barring on the feathered part of the leg of the larger species. 

 This barring however is present in the immature. 



In Panama the lesser black hawk in the main is a bird of the 

 coastal areas, found especially in mangroves, and in the swampy 

 woodlands adjacent to the poorly drained lands inland that are af- 

 fected by tide waters. On the larger rivers they range farther into 

 the interior but here live along the streams. It is the most common 

 hawk in these areas. Crabs form a principal source of their food, 

 and their presence seems to govern the range of the cangrejero. 



The call is a series of whistled notes, high in pitch, heard es- 

 pecially when nesting, quite different from the voice of the urubitinga 

 group. In feeding usually they perch low down where they have clear 

 view of the ground on which crabs may be expected. And at times I 

 have seen them on open sand or mud bars along the rivers. One in 

 such a situation suddenly ran to a nearby log and seized a crab 

 lurking beneath it. This agile habit is customary with them. Often I 

 have found the feet of those taken for specimens coated with sand 

 or mud. 



They soar regularly and in the air present an outline of rounded 

 wings and rather short tail. In early morning with the sun low in 

 the sky the yellow cere may be seen if the birds are not too high 

 in the air. When the pale immature bird joins the adults as they 

 circle the contrasts in color and pattern are interesting. The young 



