﻿VENEZUELAN ORNITHOLOGY — FRIEDMANN AND SMITH 423 



in the habitat itself, the results are of sufficient interest to be included 

 here. For example, the high percentage of Polyhorus and MUvago in 

 the deciduous seasonal forest count is due to the road and right-of- 

 way; a count in the woods itself would show a marked decrease in 

 these species. Similarly, Geranospiza would show a higher percentage 

 in the woods itself than along the highway where the count was taken. 

 Nevertheless, the counts were carefully made and the results are 

 capable of comparison with similar counts in other areas. 



Table 2. — Census of hawks observed near Cantaura, Venezuela, from December 1948 

 to March 1949. {Counts in individuals per 100 miles.) 



Species 



Deciduous 

 seasonal 



forest 

 (approxi- 

 mately 22') 

 miles total 

 count) 



Deciduous 

 seasonal 

 forest edRo 

 (approxi- 

 mately 25 

 miles total 

 count) 



Savanna 

 highway 

 lined with 

 telephone 



poles 

 (approxi- 

 mately 250 

 miles total 

 count) 



Savanna 

 without 

 telephone 



poles 

 (approxi- 

 mately 100 

 miles total 

 count) 



Gampsonyx swainsonii 



HetCTOsvizias meridionalis. 



Buteo albicaudatus.— 



Buleo albonotatus 



BiUeo mapnirostris 



BtUeo nitidus 



Parabuteo unicinctus- 



Hypomorphnus urubitinga 

 Cemnospiza caerulescens.. 

 Herpetolheres cachinnans.. 



MUvago chimachima 



Polybonis cheriivay 



Falco sparverius 



2 



1 



3 



2 



10 

 11 



6 



0.5 



0.5 



0.5 

 10 

 12 















































0.5 



2 



0.5 



The count of Falco sparverius is especially interesting. This little 

 hawk, essentially a bird of the edge habitat, is almost as rare on the 

 open savanna as in the woods. Nevertheless, the addition of a number 

 of poles approximately 25 feet high apparently makes the savanna as 

 acceptable a habitat as the edge itself, even during the breeding 

 season. Poles approximately 6 feet high, such as those of a fence 

 crossing the savanna, are not acceptable to this species and do not 

 tend to increase the count above that of the savanna itself. 



Without doubt further collecting would continue to tm-n up new 

 species, especially in the lowland seasonal forest intrusion at Caicara. 

 However, within the study area there were only 14 species recognized 

 by the junior author that were not collected. With one exception, 

 none of these was recorded more than four times during the four years. 

 These species represent the following families: Ciconiidae (2), Threski- 

 ornithidae (1), Anatidae (1), Cathartidae (1), Accipitridae (1), Pandi- 

 onidae (1), Charadriidae (2), Laridae (1), Psittacidae (1), Hii'undin- 

 idae (1), Icteridae (1), Fringilhdae (1). 



