304 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, I50 



The pava negra in the main is a bird of the higher mountains, 

 but it ranges in lesser numbers in the upper tropical zone forests. 

 I have seen it in life only on the slopes of Cerro Picacho, where it 

 still remains in small numbers. Above Cerro Punta in March 1955 I 

 noted feathers M^here one had been killed by hunters. 



While heavy bodied the birds move and fly easily through the 

 trees much in the manner of the faisana (Or talis cinereiceps) . In 

 February I noted them in pairs, some of them accompanied by 



Fig. 52. — Right wing of the black guan, pava negra, Chamaepetes unicolor, with 

 incised tips of outer primaries. 



grown young. In my limited observation they have been always in 

 trees, never on the ground. The call of the male is a single note that 

 suggests that of the pavon but without the resonant tone usual in the 

 latter bird. They are reported to be one of the best of their family 

 for the table, and therefore are sought by hunters. 



The trachea in both male and female is straight and enters the 

 thoracic cavity without convolutions. The tube in the male is 

 slightly wider than in the female. Nothing is known of the nest and 

 eggs. 



This species is found only in the mountains of Costa Rica and of 

 western Panama. 



