BIRDS or NORTHERN ^^ENEZUEL.V — WETMORE 189 



recorded only when I came directly on them. On November 15 at 

 the edge of a prairie I walked onto a family flock of 15 or more with 

 young barely large enough to fly, the chicks buzzing off through the 

 branches while adult birds ran about on the ground beneath calling 

 excitedly. As I moved to get a clearer view a dozen grown birds 

 flushed from the same covert with roaring wings and went ofi" into the 

 thicket. As they rose again I dropped a female bird. The following 

 day I flushed one bird in heavy scrub, and on November 17 I en- 

 scountered several coveys and shot another female that was not quite 

 adult. These birds frequently alighted on the branches of the thorn 

 scrub. On another day I found several in weedy fields near the 

 Rio Guarico, and on November 21 found my last in patches of weeds 

 near Hato Paya. In notes and appearance these birds are the 

 counterpart of the bobwhite of the United States. 



While Eupsychortyx has been recognized as a genus for these quaU 

 and their relatives because of the long, slender crest, intergradation 

 between these crested birds of northern South America and the 

 smooth-headed Colinus virginianus of the North through various 

 species in Central America is so definite that I feel that this name can 

 be used only in a subgeneric sense. There is no trenchant line 

 between Colinus and Eupsychorytx when all the forms involved are 

 considered. 



Todd ^ considers sonnini as a distinct species. Peters ^° includes it 

 and related forms as races of cristatus. 



Family OPISTHOCOMIDAE 



OPISTHOCOMUS HOAZIN (Miiller): Hoatzin 



Phasianus hoazin P. L. S. Muller, Natursystem, Suppl., 1776, p. 125 (Cay- 

 enne) . 



On November 19, while following a muddy, 10-foot-wide channel 

 leading back from the Rio Guarico just above the town of El Som- 

 brero, I heard a harsh, aspirated call without particular accent, that 

 might have come from bird or mammal. As I peered among the 

 dense branches of the low trees overhanging the water to locate the 

 sound there was a sudden, heavj^ beating of wings and to my utter 

 astonishment a hoatzin came blundering out to perch with raised 

 crest, spread tail and partly opened wings wtliin 40 feet of me. 

 Immediately I saw another, and heard others calling near at hand. 

 Those in sight held the mouth open with the feathers over the body 

 loosely raised, and continued in harsh reiteration the calls that had 

 attracted my attention. For neaiiy an hour I worked along this 

 channel and its branches watching and studjang the uncouth birds, 



•Auk, 1920, pp. 194-201. 



" Check-lLst of birds of the world, vol. 2, 1934, pp. 60-51. 



147878—39 2 



