308 Bangs, The Cuban Crab Hawk. [£"* 



"In the Isle of Pines I found a nest in a Jucaro (Avicennia) , 

 constructed of twigs like nests of other hawks. The egg was 

 dirty white with a greenish tinge. At the larger end there were 

 some very pale lilac spots. The dimensions were 58 x 45 mm. 



" Its flight is rapid, rather in a straight line and not in circles." 1 



Specimens of U. gundlachii are singularly rare in collections, 

 so much so, that it is very doubtful if any American ornithologist 

 has ever seen one. Cory speaks of the bird as though he had 

 never seen a skin, and I know Ridgway never saw it. I was 

 therefore delighted when my friend, John E. Thayer, Esq., pre- 

 sented me with a fine adult male, shot at its nest, together with 

 the female, in Cayo Romano, Puerto Principe, Cuba, April 15, 

 I 9°5» by Harry A. Cash. 



I at once saw Mr. Cash and got him to tell me all he knew of 

 the species, with which he had become very familiar during a 

 short collecting trip, made in an open boat among the Cays of 

 the north coast of Puerto Principe, in April and March last. 

 Mr. Cash says that the ' Batista ' is a common bird in this region, 

 but that it appears to be entirely confined to the vicinity of the 

 coast — the mangrove swamps and shores of the salt lagoons and 

 rivers — and that he did not see it far inland. 



At that time of year the birds were in pairs, and each pair 

 seemed to hold undisputed possession of three of four miles of 

 coast in the neighborhood of its nest. About ten pairs in all 

 were seen. 



My bird, a male, was killed at its nest April 15, and next day 

 the female was shot and one fresh egg taken from the nest. The 

 female contained another egg, soft-shelled and without markings, 

 but nearly full size. 



The nest was about twenty feet from the ground in a small 

 ' hobo ' tree, standing at the edge of a salt lagoon two miles from 

 the sea. It was in appearance much like an Osprey's, evidently 

 used year after year, the lower twigs showing signs of age and 



1 This translation was kindly made for me by Capt. Wirt Robinson, 

 U. S. A. 



I have omitted Gundlach's description because it is long and detailed and 

 when translated into English not particularly clear. 



