PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 195 



'' Oue pointed out to me as the Black Hawk bad the shape and appear- 

 ance of the Black Vulture {Catltartcs atratus) ; the short tail and pecu- 

 liar fli;j[ht. This not accordinfx with my observations of the hawk pre- 

 viously, in the forest, leads me to think that it was C. atratus. If so, it 

 is the first seen. A 'Black Hawk ' I had before seen bad all the appear- 

 ance of the American Duck Hawk. They breed on a sbelf of some 

 hi^h cliff." 



The single specimen sent is immature, but it does not agree satisfac- 

 torily with a Mexican example of U. anthracina, in a somewhat similar 

 stage of plumage, and if U. fjnndlachi inhabiting Cuba is a distinct 

 species, a comparison with that will be necessary to determine its true 

 position. 



It is (though a male) rather larger, and api^arently stouter, witb a 

 shorter wing than the si)etimen from Mexico, which is a female; it is 

 blacker, with the bands on the tail less in number and double the width 

 of those on the tail of the Mexican bird ; but there is probably a differ- 

 ence of age, and, without precise knowledge on this point, a comparison 

 is unsatisfactory. 



The specimen ^lluded to by Mr. Ober as having been sent to the 

 Zoologi(;al Soc;iety of London is doubtless the one spoken of by Mr. J; 

 H. Gurney (Ibis, 187G, p. 4<S7) ; he says: — "I may also mention that a 

 specimen of U. anthracina from the island of St. Vincent is now living 

 in the Gardens of the Zoological Society ; this exaujple was in immature 

 <lress when it arrived at the Gardens, but is now in full plumage, with 

 the exception of a slight tinge of rulous brown on the back and sides of 

 the head, and also on the tertials," etc. 



On page 488 he also remarks : — " The Urubitinga found in Cuba was 

 erected into a distinct species by Cabanis, who assigned to it the specific 

 name of gundlachi [vide Journ. liir Orn. 1854, p. 80); this, however, is 

 treated by Mr. Sharpeas a synonym of U, anthracina, whether correctly 

 or not I cannot say, as I have never seen a Urubitinga from Cuba," etc. 



Fam. FREaATID^. 



34. Fregata aquila (Liuu.). 



"A common sight is that of the ' Mauo'war Bird ' flying high above 

 the water. It breeds in numbers on the island of Balliceaux, 15 miles 

 distant from St. Vincent." 



Fam. PH^THONIDiE. 



35. Phaethon aethereus, Liun. 



" Length, (?, 37 in. ; alar extent, 38 : wing, 12^. 



" Breeds in the cliff's on the Leeward coast ; habits, fitc, same as the 

 Dominica bird. I lound this species in great numbers, at Balliceaux, a 

 small key near St. Vincent ; found a young bird and one egg ; they 

 breed later in the season." 



