VENEZUELAN ORNITHOLOGY — FRIEDMANN AND SMITH 491 



. . . The bird walked mincingly across the room, with delicate uplifted steps. 

 When it wanted, it could compress its tail so that it looked about as wide as the 

 central two rectrices. Usually, however, when the bird crossed in front of me it 

 spread its tail fanshaped like a strutting turkey gobbler, but strongly twisted in 

 line with its bod}', not at right angles to it. When the bird changed directions 

 and crossed in front of me from the opposite side, the tail was immediately reversed 

 so as to continue to present the upper side to me. The bird almost appeared to 

 be strutting in front of me, a thing not to be expected under the circumstances, 

 although I could not rule out the thought of camouflage in the sense that the spread 

 tail looked somewhat like the head with the dark central spot (central coverts) as 

 the eye spot. At this time the bird did not crouch preparatory to flying. 



When I tried to recapture the bird, however, I noted that each time it crouched 

 preparatory to taking off (it could but barely lift itself off the floor, as the pectoral 

 muscles had been injured) it fanned its tail in exactly the manner described above. 

 It might be mentioned that this is not just a[slight fanning of the rectrices, but an 

 extreme position — a very wide open fan, strongly cocked to the side of the observer. 

 The bird appeared to take off with the tail so cocked. This may be the reason 

 for the "corkscrew" flight of the snipe when flushed. 



Crocethia alba (Pallas) 



Trynga alba Pallas, in Vroeg, Catalogue . . . , 1764, Adumbr., p. 7 (coast of the 

 North Sea) . 

 1 unsexed, Barcelona, December 10, 1951; bill and feet black. 



The sandeiiing was recorded only on the coast at Barcelona during 

 December through February. It was not common; usually not more 

 then j&ve birds were seen at one time. 



Family Laridae: Gulls, Terns 



Sterna albifrons antillarum (Lesson) 



Sternula antillarum Lesson, Description de mammifferes et d'oiseaux r6cemment 

 d^couverts {in Complement aux oeuvres de Buffon), vol. 20, 1847, p. 256 

 (Guadeloupe, West Indies) . 

 1 9 , 10 kilometers south of Urica, Monagas, April 27, 1952; gonads very small; 

 skull soft, immature; iris dark; bill yellow with tip black; feet yellow, nails black. 



1 unsexed, Barcelona, May 25, 1951 (wing and feet only); bill yellow with black 

 tip; feet yellow. 



The female taken is the only one known to have been seen within 

 the study area; the Barcelona specimen was collected from a flock of 

 five. 



Thalasseus sandvicensis acuflavidus (Cabot) 



Sterna acuflavida Cabot, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 2 (1848), 1847, p. 257 

 (Tancah, Yucatd,n). 

 1 9, Barcelona, May 25, 1951; gonads enlarged (small yolks); iris brown; bill 

 and feet black. 



This specimen was collected out of a flock of eight birds. The en- 

 larged gonads and the pugnacious, "attacking" behavior of the bird 

 made it seem likely that the species was nesting nearby. The gull- 

 billed tern was recorded only on the coast. 



