202 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM Vol. 87 



was brought to me. It showed no signs of injury but was emaciated 

 to such an extreme that its frame was merely a skeleton covered with 

 skin and feathers. It appeared that it had made a landing too ex- 

 hausted by its long flight to recover. I wondered how many did not 

 arrive at all. 



On November 4 I recorded one at an elevation of 3,500 feet at 

 Rancho Grande. 



PIAYA CAYANA COLUMBIANA (Cabanls) 



Pyrrhococcyx colu7nbiana Cabanis, Journ. fiir Orn., 1862, p. 170 (Cartagena, 

 Colombia) . 



Near El Sombrero these cuckoos were fairly common from November 

 13 to 20 in rather heavy woods. They move alertly and quietly, 

 usually along horizontal or gently sloping limbs. One uttered a 

 rattling cuckoolike call audible for only a few yards. They were seen 

 sometimes low down near the ground in bushes. 



A female taken on November 13 is slightly paler in its brown tints 

 than those from farther north in Venezuela, has the black on the 

 rectrices considerably restricted, and the underparts somewhat paler. 



CROTOPHAGA ANI Linnaens 



Crotophaga ani Linnaeus, SyBtema naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 105 (Jamaica). 



Near Maracay on November 111 found a small flock of anis in a 

 brush-grown pasture and collected a male. Others were seen at 

 Ortiz on November 12 and near El Sombrero on November 16 and 17. 



CROTOPHAGA SULCIROSTRIS SULCIROSTRIS Swainson 



Crotophaga sulcirosiris Swainson, Philos. Mag., new ser., vol. 1, June 1827, p. 440 

 (Tableland, Temascaltepec, Mexico). 



Seen at Ocumare de la Costa on October 28 and 30. At El Sombrero 

 they were fairly common, and specimens were secured on November 

 15 and 18. 



CROTOPHAGA MAJOR Gmelln 



Crotophaga major Gmelin, Systema naturae, vol. 1, pt, 1, 1788, p. 363 (Cayenne). 



Near El Sombrero I found an occasional flock of the large ani in 

 heavy growths of low trees at the edge of the Meseta and near the Rio 

 Guarico on November 17, 19, and 20. They were quite wary, began 

 to call as soon as they saw me, and immediately flew away to safety 

 behind the protection of heavy cover. One that I shot on November 1 7 

 near the Meseta was a bird of predatory appearance, strongly mus- 

 cled, and very fat. The pecuHar odor of the flesh found in anis was 

 pronounced. The iris was light grayish white. 



It was an interesting experience at El Sombrero to see all three 

 species of anis in the course of a day. 



