﻿VENEZUELAN ORNITHOLOGY — FRIEDMANN AND SMITH 447 



This small Buteo was one of the commonest hawks in the dry woods 

 and edges of woods around Cantaura and Caicara and was recorded 

 in every month of the year. Its note, a high hoarse whistle, seeuu, 

 was one of the typical sounds of this habitat. It was usually seen 

 perched near the tops of the small trees, quietly awaiting its prey. 



A fledgling, just out of the nest, was seen at Cantaura in August. 



Local name, "gavildn habado," barred hawk. 



BUTEO NITIDUS NITIDUS (Latham) 



Falco nitidus Latham, Index ornithologicus, vol. 1, 1790, 41 (Cayenne). 



SPECIMENS COLLECTED 



1 9 (af^-) Cantaura, February 14, 1946; gonads slightly enlarged; cere, feet, 

 and iris yellow; gizzard contained some bits of an iguana; in fairly fresh plumage. 



1 9 , imm., Cantaura, April 4, 1948; ovary small, iris brown, bill black, cere 

 and feet yellow-green, gizzard contained a lizard. 



This was one of the commonest hawks of the deciduous seasonal 

 woods ; it was present also in the lowland seasonal forest but in lesser 

 numbers. It was recorded in every month of the year. 



A nest was found at Cantaura during the second week of May 

 about 30 feet up in the crotch of a still-leafless tree. It was rather 

 small and compact, not conspicuous. One bird was incubating, while 

 the other, on guard a short distance away, whistled whenever the nest 

 was approached. 



The call note was similar to that of the Buteo magnirostris but 

 somewhat more whistled and less harsh. 



Local names, "gavildn habado," barred hawk, and "gavildn gris," 

 gray hawk. 



PARABUTEG UNICINCTUS UNICINCTUS (Temminck) 



Falco unicinctiis Temminck, Nouveau recueil de planches colorizes d'oiseaux, 

 livr. 53, 1824, pi. 313 (vicinity of Rio Grande near Boa Vista, Brazil). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 9 , Cantaura, February 18, 1946; gonads not enlarged; iris dark brown, tarsi 

 and toes yellow, bill light blue, the tip black, cere yellow-green; gizzard contained 

 pieces of a guan {Ortalis ruficauda); in molt. 



In flight this hawk never failed to remind the collector of a large, 

 dark marsh hawk (Circus hudsonius), not only because of the white 

 at the base of the tail but also because of its graceful, harrierlike 

 appearance in flight. The bird was fairly common locally, often seen 

 in groups of three or four. It apparently prefers semiopen country 

 where the savanna becomes more overgrown and tends toward edge 

 growth bordering the dry woods. 



Although "sluggish habits" may "preclude a diet of such active 

 creatures as birds" for the subspecies Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi, 

 as John B. May suggests in "The Hawks of North America" (1935, 



