184 PROCEEDIIsrGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM Vol. 8T 



CATHARTES AURA RUFICOLLIS Spix 



Cathartes ruficollis Spix, Avium species novae . . . Braziliam, vol. 1, 1824, p. 2 

 (interior of Bahia and Piauhy). 



The turkey vulture though less abundant than the black vulture 

 was observed in all the locaUties visited. One was seen near La 

 Guaira on October 16, and these birds were common at Ocumare de la 

 Costa October 23 to 31. They were observed regularly m the moun- 

 tains near Rancho Grande November 4 to 10. In the northern llanos 

 they were more common, so that many were noted near El Sombrero 

 from November 13 to 21. 



From field observation of birds resting in the sun with outspread 

 wings it seemed to me that the end of the wing was more roimded than 

 in C. a. septentrionalis, the bird of the Eastern United States. In 

 supsequent examination of specimens in museums this supposition 

 seemingly is verified, as in three skins from Venezuela I found the 

 length of the wing tip (i. e., the extension of the longest primary 

 beyond the end of the longest secondary) to range from 85 to 106 mm., 

 while the total length of the wing varied from 495 to 503 mm. In 

 1 1 birds from the Eastern United States the wing tip varies from 97 to 

 170 mm., 7 of this series measuring from 130 to 170 mm., the total 

 wing length being 520 to 570 mm. The matter should be checked with 

 more specimens of ruficollis. 



Family ACCIPITRIDAE 



HARPAGUS BIDENTATUS BIDENTATUS (Latham) 



Falco hidentatus Latham, Index ornithologicus, vol. 1, 1790, p. 38 (Cayenne). 



On November 6 in heavy forest along the trail at El Portachuelo 

 above Rancho Grande my attention was attracted by the insistent 

 chipping calls of a large hummer (Cyanolesbia Hngii margarethae) , 

 and I looked up to see it scolding one of these hawks resting on an 

 open limb a few feet above my head. The bird proved to be a female, 

 very fat. In color this specimen is somewhat darker above than 

 four skins in the National Museum from Demerara. It measures 

 as follows: Wing 227, tail 145, culmen from cere 16.2, tarsus 44.8 

 mm. The ii-is w^as orange-red; maxilla black, except for a dull- 

 gray area extending across the posterior tooth and the base of the 

 tomium behind; mandible dull gray; cere dull greenish; tarsus bright 

 yellow; claws black. 



HETEROSPIZIAS MERIDIONAIIS MERmiONALIS (IjUharo) 



Falco meridionalis Latham, Index ornithologicus, vol. 1, 1790, p. 36 (Cayenne). 



One was seen near Ortiz on November 12, and from November 13 



to 21 one or two were recorded nearly every day near El Sombrero. 



