342 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 



Iris red; bare skin around eye, and gape dull red; base of bill 

 yellow to level of nostrils, changing there to light green for terminal 

 half ; gape red ; crus, tarsus and toes red ; claws grayish brown. 



Though wood rails are widely distributed, and are as widely known, 

 they are so secretive that their presence is recognized mainly from 

 their calls heard in morning, evening, and during the early hours of 



Fig. 56. — Gray-necked wood rail, cocaleca gris, Aramides cajanea. 



night. Their range is governed by suitable cover to afford conceal- 

 ment, as they are found from the borders of mangrove swamps 

 inland throughout the tropical zone, and in places they may follow 

 streams to the lower edge of the subtropical zone at elevations up to 

 1,300 meters. In hill country they often range on slopes where forest 

 is not too high to points that are far from water. On Isla San Jose 

 in the Pearl Islands, and on Isla Coiba, I heard them or noted their 

 tracks regularly in the drier upland areas. 



They are found in pairs, except for limited periods when they 

 may be accompanied by young. In the dry season on the eastern 



