FAMILY FALCONIDAE 265 



Measurements. — Males (1 from Costa Rica, 8 from Panama), wing 

 218-231 (224), tail 175-199 (188), culmen from cere 20.0-23.0 

 (21.1), tarsus 75.7-80.5 (78.3) mm. 



Females (3 from Panama), wing 224-229 (227), tail 189-196 

 (191), culmen from cere 21.3-21.9 (21.5), tarsus 74.5-79.9 (77.0) 

 mm. 



Resident. Rare, in the tropical zone in regions of heavy forest. 



The few records based on specimens are as follows : 



Cocle: EI Uracillo. 



Canal Zone: Caribbean slope along the railroad (McLeannan) ; Gamboa, 



Apr. 4, 1962 (Hayward), Juan Mina, Jan. 11, 1961 (Wetmore) 

 Panama : Puerto San Antonio, on the lower Rio Bayano ; Charco del Toro, 



on the Rio Maje. 

 Darien : Jaque. 

 San Blas : Perme, Obaldia. 



There is one in the British Museum marked "Panama" that is said 

 to have been collected by Arce. 



The bird is little known. In my own experience, in which I have 

 come across it on six different occasions, I have found it always on 

 low perches in forest, with one exception only, at La Jagua, when, 

 during a lull in a rainstorm, one rested briefly in an open tree top. 

 Those I have taken, attracted by my bird calls, have dashed in to 

 perch very near at hand. One was so intent on prospective prey that 

 it followed my companion as he moved away to a proper distance for 

 a shot. Those taken had eaten birds except for one which had the 

 crop filled with remains of a green snake. Near Jaque I saw one 

 carrying a lizard. This locality, in Darien, is the only place where 

 my Panamanian helpers have known the bird. They called it halcon 

 (or gavildn) gat ea dor, and I was told that sometimes it hunted on 

 foot on the forest floor, where, on occasion, it could run more rapidly 

 than a dog. This is verified by the one taken at Armila, San Bias, 

 which was on the ground. 



The body, on the open areas between the feather tracts, including 

 the underside of the fleshy part of the wings and the wing membranes, 

 is covered heavily with white down, as is common in many forest- 

 inhabiting hawks. Nothing is recorded of the breeding of this species, 

 except the usual statement of Indians in South America that it nests 

 in tall trees. 



The characters ascribed to a supposed race extimus from Panama 

 prove to be those of individual variation. 



