158 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



Six specimens : Bonda, Neguange, Don Diego, and Fundacion. 



Indistinguishable from a specimen from French Guiana. Birds 

 from the Pacific coast region of Colombia and Ecuador have been dis- 

 criminated as a distinct race, H. cachinnans fulvcscens Chapman. 



The Laughing Hawk is not a very common bird in this region, and 

 is confined to the more heavily wooded parts of the lowlands, never 

 ascending to the hills. It has a peculiar characteristic cry, easily 

 recognized at a long distance, whence its name. Its food consists 

 largely of snakes. 



53. Micrastur zonothorax (Cabanis). 



Micrastur ruficollis (not Sparvius ruficollis Vieillot) Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. 

 Nat. Hist., XIII, 1900, 130 (Valparaiso and El Libano). 



Eight specimens: Cincinnati, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (8,000 

 feet), Las Vegas, San Lorenzo, Pueblo Viejo, and Chirua. 



Four adults and four young birds are referred to this species, which 

 was originally described from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. The upper 

 parts of the adults are deep brown (the exact shade varying some- 

 what), the pileum and nape duller, and in one specimen dusky slate, 

 in abrupt contrast. Two of these have four white bands on the rec- 

 trices (not counting the terminal one), the proximal one more or less 

 concealed by the upper tail-coverts, while the other two specimens 

 have but three such bands. A specimen from northern Venezuela 

 (La Cumbre de Valencia) is similar, but has five bands on the tail. 

 The lower parts are barred with black and white, in more or less uni- 

 form pattern ; the sides of the throat and breast are more or less 

 shaded with the brown of the upper parts. It is clear that notwith- 

 standing these variations only one species is represented, which is 

 sufficiently distinct both from M. guerilla on the one hand and from 

 M. gih'icollis on the other, but in the absence of authentic specimens 

 of M. ruficollis for comparison, and in view of the confusion in which 

 the several members of this group still seem to be involved, despite 

 the work of Messrs. Ridgway, Gurney, and others, we are unable to 

 discuss the matter further. 



This hawk is not uncommon in the heavy forest of the Subtropical 

 Zone, both on the San Lorenzo and in the Sierra Nevada. In the 

 former locality it ranges between 5,000 and 7,000 feet, and in the latter 

 between 2,000 and 5,000 feet. It has a characteristic call-note, often 



