﻿470 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. lOo 



September, and November, generally in small flocks of less than 10 

 birds. It was almost exclusively arboreal, very rarely to be seen on 

 the ground. 



Local name, "pipe azul." 



LEPTOPTILA VERREAUXI VERREAUXI Bonaparte 



Leptoptila verrauxi Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris, vol. 40, No. 3, 

 January 15, 1855, p. 99 ("Nouvelle Grenada"). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



19, Cantaura, December 1, 1945; gonads enlarged (small yolks); iris yelloWj 

 eye ring blue, feet deep red; plumage considerably abraded. 



This specimen agrees with others of its race. Larger series than are 

 available for study might well reveal the existence of more than a 

 single race in the wide range given this form by Hellmayr and Conover 

 (Catalogue of the birds of the Americas, pt. 1, No. 1, 1942, p. 577). 



This large dove was common both in the dry woods around Cantaura 

 and in the wet woods around Caicara. It was a bird of the woods 

 floor, rarely seen perched at more than 8 to 10 feet above ground. 

 It was generally encountered singly or in groups of 3 or 4 birds, although 

 the collector has seen more than 75 together at water holes. 



The collector examined a great many of these doves, shot for sport 

 throughout the year, and on this basis believes they could be breeding 

 from January through July. Nests were found in April and June. 

 Beebe (Zoologica, vol. 1, 1909, p. 73) also found a nest with two eggs 

 on April 2 at Cano Guanoco, northwestern Venezuela. The nests 

 were rather well built of twigs without any lining. Clutches consisted 

 of two white eggs. 



Gizzards of 2 examples examined in July contained 23 small cater- 

 pillars, a large moth, and seeds, many of which were already sprouted. 



The note is a low, hollow cooo-ooo, generally repeated at intervals 

 of perhaps one to two minutes. 



The bird was known locally both as "pipe" and "tutuel." 



Family PSITTACIDAE: Parrots 



ARA ARARAUNA (Linnaeus) 



Psittacus Ararauna Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 96 (South 

 America =Pernambuco, ex Marcgrave, Hellmayr, Abh. Bayer. Akad. Wiss., 

 Kl. 2, vol. 22, 1906, Abth. 3, p. 577). 



specimen collected 



1 cT, Caicara, September 12, 1948; gonads small; iris very pale yellow, facial 

 skin white, bUl and feet black; gizzard contained "jabUlo" seeds; a fine adult 

 showing signs of molting in the tail and wings, many of the anterior dorsal body 

 feathers frayed terminally. 



