﻿446 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. loo 



blue, facial skin dull blue green, pale yellow in one, pale yellow-green in the other; 

 gizzard of one contained an 8-inch lizard and a dove {Zenaidura auriculata), of 

 the other a 12-inch snake. 



The adult, as is often the case in hawks, is smaller than the two 

 young birds. It is in the gray-phase plumage. The young are, of 

 course, black mottled with buffy white below and with white on the 

 occiput, nape, and upper back. 



This hawk was almost exclusively a bird of the open savanna, 

 although it was occasionally seen on telephone poles bordering roads 

 crossing the deciduous seasonal woods. It was a fairly common bird, 

 recorded in every month of the year. Up to perhaps 10 individuals 

 could be seen in a day. To judge from the appearance of juvenal 

 birds it seemed rather certain that this hawk nested in June and July. 



The call note was a series of high, whistled kee-kee-kee notes, rapidly 

 repeated. 



Local name, "gavilan," hawk. 



BUTEO ALBONOTATUS ABBREVIATUS Cabanis 



Buieo ahhreviahis Cabanis, in Schomburgk, Reisen in British Guiana. . . ., 

 pt. 3, 1848, p. 739 (Upper Pomeroon River, British Guiana). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 9 , Cantaura, March 8, 1949; gonads small; iris bright brown, cere and feet 

 pale yellow, facial skin dull green, bill bluish with dark tip; gizzard contained 

 remains of a lizard and a small bird; an adult in fairly fresh plumage. 



The zone-tailed hawk was typically a bird of the deciduous seasonal 

 woods, sho"wing decided preference for broken terrain and "bad 

 lands." It was not common; rarely were more than two individuals 

 seen in one day, although it was present during every month of the 

 year and could be found almost at will. 



This was without doubt the most active Buteo and perhaps, with 

 the exception of the swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) , the most 

 active raptor of the region, surpassing even the falcons. It custo- 

 marily coursed back and forth over the woods at an altitude of about 

 50 feet, plunging from that height in an almost falconlike manner to 

 capture its prey. 



Local name, "gavildn negro," black hawk. 



BUTEO MAGNIROSTRIS MAGNIROSTRIS (Gmelin) 



Falco magnirostris Gmelin, Systema naturae, vol. 1, pt. 1, 1788, p. 282 (Cayenne, 

 ex Daubenton, Planches enlumin^es, pi. 464). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 9 , Cantaura, February 15, 1946; gonads slightly enlarged; cere, feet, and iris 

 yellow. Plumage considerably abraded, especially the rectrices. 



Like most Venezuelan specimens, the present one is fairly dark 

 as compared with birds from British Guiana. 



