VENEZUELAN ORNITHOLOGY — FRIEDMANN AND SMITH 481 



Family Ciconiidae: Storks 



Euxenura galatea (Molina) 



Ardea galatea Molima, Sagg. Stor. Nat. Chili, 1782, p. 235 in text, 344 (Chile). 



1, unsexed, Caicara, June 4, 1951; gonads small; iris brown, bill gray, feet dull 

 red. 



This stork was occasionally recorded on the savanna lagunes, 

 generally in pairs, more rarely in singles. It was uncommon; more 

 than two birds were never seen in any one month. 



Another even larger stork, the jabiru (Jabiru mycteria) also occurs 

 in the study area, but has not yet been collected. The collector saw 

 occasional individuals but was never able to crawl within shotgun 

 range, even at night. 



Family Cathartidae: New World Vultm-es 



Sarcoramphus papa (Linnaeus) 



Vultur Papa Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 86 ("India 

 occidentalis" = Surinam, designated by Berlepsch, Nov. Zool., vol. 15, 1908, 

 p. 289). 



One unsexed, Caicara, March 30, 1950; adult in good plumage. 



The king vulture was seen occasionally, one bird at a time, at 

 Caicara, except for one time when a flock of six was noted. It was not 

 recorded at Cantaura. 



Coragyps atratus (Bechstein) 



Vultur atratus Bechstein, in Latham, Allgemeine Uebersicht der Vogel, vol. 1, 

 1793, Anhang, p. 655 (Florida, ex Bartram). 



In our earlier paper we recorded a chick hatched about August 1. 

 That the breeding season is prolonged, as might be expected, is 

 shown by a "nest" of the black vulture, with two freshly laid bluish 

 eggs mottled with reddish, found at Cantaura on March 29, 1952. 

 The nest was simply a slight clearing on the ground; it was placed 

 in a thicket under a large tree, within 300 yards of a house and within 

 10 yards of a travelled lane The eggs were destroyed by some animal 

 within days after their discovery by the collector. A vulture was 

 again flushed from this site on December 6, but no nest or eggs could 

 be found. 



Cathartes aura ruficollis SpLs 



Cathartes ruficollis Spix, Avium species novae . . . Brasiliam . . . , vol. 1, 1824, 

 p. 3 (interior of Bahia and Piauf). 



The junior author adds to our earlier account of this vulture his 

 report of seeing single immature birds on June 4, 1950, and again 

 on June 5, 1952. These were young dark-headed individuals, fully 



