﻿VENEZUELAN ORNITHOLOGY — FRIEDMANN AND SMITH 527 



The males were in continual song toward the end of January, one 

 being timed at four songs per minute. The song consists of five or 

 six evenly spaced notes, each one a little higher than the last, chee, 

 chee, chee, chee, chee. The males sang on the ground as they fed in 

 small flocks, often without the presence of females, and this song was 

 usually accompanied by a curious display. The singing bird would 

 lower its head, Hft its outspread tail almost straight up, and utter 

 its song, jumping shghtly and fluttering its wings with each con- 

 secutive "chee." 



Local name, "tordo." 



LEISTES MILITARIS MIUTARIS (Linnaeus) 



Emheriza militaris Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 178 

 (based on "Turdus ater, pectore coccineo" Linnaeus; Surinam suggested by 

 Berlepsch and Hartert, Nov. Zool., voL 9, 1902, p. 33). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 cf, San Rain6n, July 23, 1944; gonads enlarged; iris brown; plumage very 

 worn. 



The "sangre de toro lagunero," as this bird was called locally, 

 was found in wet meadows in the bottomlands of the river valleys. 



It was rare in the study area, being recorded as singles or pairs in 

 wet meadows during June, July, August, and September. 



ICTERUS AURIC APILLUS (Cassin) 



Icterus auricapillus Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 3, 1847 

 (1848), p. 332 ("Mexico," error; and "South America"). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 cf , Cantaura, January 31, 1945; gonads very small; plumage somewhat worn. 



The orange-crowned oriole was common at the edge of the wet 

 woods around Caicara in December, usually seen in small flocks of 

 four to six individuals. It was rare around Cantaura in December 

 and January and was not seen at Caicara except in December. 



The call note is a dull, oriolelike cherrr. Some of its other notes 

 were similar to those of I. n. nigrogularis. 



Local name, "toche." 



ICTERUS NIGROGULARIS NIGROGULARIS (Hahn) 



Xanthornus nigrogularis Hahn, Vogel aus Asien, Africa . . ., livr. 5, 1819, pi. 1 

 ("Jamaica, Me.xico, and Cayenne" = Brazil). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 9 , Cantaura, February 11, 1945; gonads not enlarged; iris yellow; plumage 

 fairly fresh. 



Although its habitat is well up in the northeastern part of Vene- 

 zuela, the present specimen shows no approach toward trinitatis 



