VENEZUELAN ORNITHOLOGY — FRIEDMANN AND SMITH 503 



meloryyhus. Often three or four birds would be calling at the same 

 time, generally while perched rather than while flying. The pre- 

 ferred habitat was groups of small trees at the savanna edge. The 

 form was recorded only at Caicara. 



Amasilia fimbriata maculicauda (Gould) 



Thaumaiias maculicaudus Gould, Introduction to the Trochilidae, 1861, p. 154 

 (British Guiana). 



The following observations add to our earlier notes: Six nests 

 were found, two about 10 feet up, while the remainder were at less than 

 3 feet above the ground. Especially in January and February, 

 groups of five and six birds could be seen chasing each other, and 

 apparently copulating on the wing. In chasing each other, they 

 uttered a very typical call, a loud peep-peep running up and down 

 the scale, somewhat in the manner of contented chicks under a brood- 

 ing hen. Of the four common hummingbirds of the deciduous woods, 

 Chrysolampis mosquitus, Chlorostilbon canivetii caribaeus, Amazilia 

 tobaci aliciae, and the present species, the first three feed typically 

 at the flowers of high trees; the Amazilia jimbriata is a low feeder. 



Family Trogonidae: Trogons 



Trogon strigilatus strigilatus Linnaeus 



Trogon strigilatus Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766, p. 167 (Cayenne). 



In addition to the specimen recorded by us earlier, a female was 

 shot on May 25, but was too damaged to be saved. The gonads 

 were slightly enlarged, but not as much as in a breeding bird. The 

 specimen was actively molting. 



Family Alcedinidae: Kingfishers 



Ceryle torquata torquata (Linnaeus) 



Alcedo torquata Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766 p. 180. (Marti- 

 nique and Mexico). 



No additional specimens were collected, but a pair was observed 

 digging a nest hole during the middle of January. There were four 

 or five of the tunnels about 30 feet up in a 50-foot perpendicular 

 bank at the river's edge. 



The commonest call of this kingfisher was a harsh, rapidly repeated 

 kit-ti, kit-ti. 



