﻿VENEZUELAN ORNITHOLOGY — FRIEDMANN AND SMITH 429 



The pied-billed grebe was recorded on savanna ponds during April, 

 June, July, and August, generally as singles or pairs. 



Family PHALACROCORACIDAE: Cormorants 



PHALACROCOBAX OUVACEUS OUVACEUS (Humboldt) 



Pelecanus olivaceus Humboldt, in Humboldt and Bonplant, Recueil d'observa- 

 tions de zoologie et d'anatomie compar^e, 1805, p. 6 (banks of Magdalena 

 River, lat. 8°55' N., Colombia). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 9, Caicara, March 25, 1948; gonads small; iris blue-gray, bill gray, facial 

 skin yellow, feet black; gizzard contained fish; plumage worn. 



The vigua cormorant is widely distributed over the coasts and 

 waterways of Central and South America. In the study area it was 

 encountered along the Guarapiche River (Caicara), along the Guanipa 

 River (near Cantaura), and, more rarely, on the savanna ponds. The 

 species was recorded during the months of January through August; 

 up to five individuals could be encountered in an hour's walk along 

 either of the two rivers from February thi-ough July. Although a 

 special effort was made to record the species within the area during 

 November and December, not one bird was found. Movement was 

 particularly pronounced during February and March, when flocks of 

 5 to 12 birds were seen repeatedly flying due south over Cantaura, 

 often at high altitudes. Since the station is approximately midway 

 between the coast and the Orinoco River, the repeated observation of 

 flocks moving high over that locality has led the collector to believe 

 that this species probably appears on that river, not only by movement 

 upstream, but also by actual migration due south from the coast. 



On the Guarapiche River this cormorant was often seen swimming 

 with apparent ease in rapids where a man would have great difficulty 

 in walking upstream. 



The species probably does not breed in the study area. Presumably 

 it breeds on the islands off the coast, where it is present in noticeable 

 numbers. 



The call note is a low, harsh crruk-crruk. 



The local name "cotua" is applied also to the snakebird (Anhinga 

 anhinga) . 



Family ANHINGIDAE: Snakebirds 



ANHINGA ANHINGA ANHINGA (Linnaens) 



Plotus anhinga Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766, p. 218 (Brazil; 

 restricted to Rio Tapaj6z, Para, Brazil, by Griscom and Greenway, Bull. 

 Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 88, 1941, p. 103). 



