﻿VENEZUELAN ORNITHOLOGY — FRIEDMANN AND SMITH 513 



straight and fast, generally between 20 and 40 feet above ground. 

 They traveled silently; only an occasional chirp could be heard. 

 There could be no doubt that the birds were on migration. There was 

 something so purposeful, so determined about their direct, silent, 

 and very rapid flight that even the most casual observer could scarcely 

 doubt that they were birds of passage in the area. To those familiar 

 with the birds' graceful circling over the meadows in the United 

 States the difference was indeed striking. 



On two days over a week apart the collector found a flock of these 

 birds passing the night at a certain place on the open treeless savanna. 

 He had often watched the flocks following the same route over the 

 plains and wondered how and why they followed the same local "trail" 

 so closely, but he was even more surprised to find what must have 

 been two different flocks staying overnight in the very same place, 

 when there was apparently absolutel}^ nothing there that could make 

 that particular spot more desirable than any other for miles around. 



IRIDOPBOCNE ALBIVENTES (Boddaert) 



Ilirundo alhiventer Boddaert, Table des planches enlumin^ez, 1783, p. 32 (Cay- 

 enne). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 cf , Cantaura, December 30, 1947; gonads very much enlarged; iris brown; 

 plumage somewhat abraded. 



This swallow was very irregular in the study area, being encountered 

 at bodies of water in all types of habitat, but never for extended periods. 

 Small flocks of less than 10 birds would be encountered at a pond one 

 day, but would be gone the next. The bird was recorded in March, 

 April, June, July, October, November, and December, the December 

 male being in breeding condition. 



Family CORVIDAE: Crows, Jays 



CYANOCORAX VIOLACEUS Du Bna 



Cyanocorax violaceus Du Bus, Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci., Lettr. et Beaux-Arts Belgique, 

 vol. 14, 1847, p. 103 (Peru). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 9 , Cantaura, April 19, 1946; gonads slightly enlarged; iris brown; gizzard 

 contained seeds; plumage fresh. 



As pointed out by the senior author in another paper (Proc. U. S. 

 Nat. Mus., vol. 97, 1948, p. 525), it may be that Venezuelan and 

 Guianan birds will prove to be separa,ble from topotypical violaceus, 

 in which case the name hyacinthinus Cabanis will be available for them. 



This handsome jay was fairly common locally in the diy woods 

 around Cantaura (February to October), where it showed some prefer- 

 ence for locaUties near water. Curiously enough, it was not observed 



