﻿454 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. lOO 



1071, 1940, p. 3) all specimens from the junction of the Apure with the 

 Orinoco east to Ciudad Bolivar are intermediate between sonnini and 

 barnesi, but nearer the former. The present examples are not at all 

 like barnesi, with topotypes of which they have been compared, and 

 are not like the intermediates mentioned by GUliard, but they agree 

 very well with birds from Margarita Island. Hellmayr and Conover 

 (Catalogue of the birds of the Americas, pt. 1, No. 1, 1942, p. 259, 

 footnote) consider mocquerysi an unsatisfactory race, but the material 

 examined in the present connection certainly upholds it. 



This quail was abundant locally in the fields at the edge of the dry 

 woods, as well as on the open savanna wherever it had become suffi- 

 ciently overgrown to afford cover. The size of the coveys varied con- 

 siderably, probably with the season. A covey of 8 to 12 birds was 

 usual, but the collector recorded coveys of at least 30 birds in Novem- 

 ber. The call note of this species was very similar to that of the bob- 

 white (Colinus V. virginianus) of the Eastern United States. One nest 

 was found in July; half-grown young were found in December. 



Local name, "perdiz." 



Family OPISTHOCOMIDAE: Hoatzins 



OPISTHOCOMUS HOAZIN (P. L, S. MUUer) 



Phasianus hoazin P. L. S. Muller, Natursystem, Suppl., 1776, p. 125 (based on 

 "Faisan hupp6 de Cayenne"; Cayenne). 



SPECIMEN EXAMINED 



1 cf, Caicara, December 29, 1945; gonads not enlarged; facial skin dull blue 

 black; iris bright red; molting specimen, unusually brightly colored. 



The hoatzin was common along the Guarapiche River at Caicara, 

 and, in the collector's experience, always in stands of "lata" or "cana 

 brava" (Gynerium), upon the leaves and shoots of which it apparently 

 feeds. The gizzard of the example collected contained green pulpy 

 matter, believed by the collector to be "lata." These birds were 

 found in flocks of at least 20 to 30 individuals. Their harsh, monot- 

 onous note, ca cherk, ca cherk, could be heard for some distance, sound- 

 ing quite like a chorus of frogs. The birds also uttered a low hiss. 

 Beebe (Zoologica, vol. 1, 1909, pp. 45-66) has written in detail of this 

 bird on the Guarapiche River. 



Local name, "guacharaca de agua." 



Family ARAMIDAE: Limpkins 



ARAMUS GUARAUNA GUARAUNA (Linnaeus) 



Scolopax guarauna Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766, p. 242 (based 

 on "Le Courly brun d'Am6rique" Brisson, Ornithologia sive synopsis meth- 

 odica, vol. 5, 1760, p. 330, and "Guarauna" Marcgrave, Historiae rerum 



