Vol. XXI 

 •9°5 



'] Bangs, The Cuba?i Crab Hawk. 307 



THE CUBAN CRAB HAWK, URUBITINGA GUND- 

 L AC HI J (CABANIS). 



BY OUTRAM BANGS. 



The Crab Hawk or Black Hawk of Cuba was described by 

 Cabanis in 1854 and named Hypomorphnus gundlachii} Since 

 then authors have sometimes given it by that name, but have 

 more often referred it to the continental Urubitinga anthracina 

 (Licht.), it appearing thus in ' Catalogue of Birds in British 

 Museum,' Vol. I, and in Sharpe's ' Hand-List of Birds.' 



Gundlach was of course familiar with the bird, but probably 

 never had an opportunity of comparing it with U. anthracina, and 

 in his ' Ornitologid Cubana ' (Habana, 1893) gives the following 

 account of the Cuban species, pages 18 and 19. 



"Genus Urubitinga (Lesson). 



"6. Urubitinga anthracina (Falco anthracina Licht). Batista 

 and in the Isle of Pines it is called Copete. 



"This species has on p. 40 of my Contributions the name of 

 Hypomorphnus Gundtachi, Cabanis, but as this name is later than 

 that of Lichtenstein I place it in the synonymy. It is also found 

 in the Isle of Pines, in Jamaica, in Guadaloupe, and in Grenada, 

 and probably in other of the Lesser Antilles, besides Central 

 America and Mexico. 



Apparently it is' found only in mangrove swamps and on the 

 banks of large rivers. Its note resembles its common name ba- 

 tis-ta. I have killed a few, both adults and young. 



"Dimensions are adult male, length 4S8-520, extent 1226- 

 1232. Of the female, length 566-6 to, extent 1367-1418 mm. 



" I found in the stomach remains of crustaceans. Other natur- 

 alists have found in the stomachs frogs, snakes, and fishes, but no 

 one has found remains of birds. It is then a species which is 

 neither useful nor harmful. 



1 J. f. O., 1854, extra page, Ixxx. 



