42 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 134 
great horned owls of southern México and Central America include 
only one race, to be called mayensis. Under these circumstances I 
have listed this observation under the subspecific name though it is 
only a sight record. 
Owls were reported as occasional on Coiba, but search for them 
by day and by night was unsuccessful. Whether the present species 
or others were involved is therefore unknown. 
Family CAPRIMULGIDAE: Goatsuckers 
CAPRIMULGUS RUFUS MINIMUS Griscom and Greenway: Rufous Nightjar, 
Chotacabras Morena 
Caprimulgus rufus minimus Griscom and GREENWAY, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zodl., 
vol. 81, May 1937, p. 424. (Panama City, Panama.) 
It was a pleasant experience to find this interesting goatsucker 
fairly common on Coiba, particularly since the omnipresent Nyc- 
tidromus encountered throughout the lowland coverts of the main- 
land, was entirely absent. In traversing the forest I came across them 
resting on the ground, usually in sections where the surface was 
somewhat hilly or undulating. They rose on noiseless wings and 
flew swiftly through the undergrowth where, in the dim light, it was 
difficult for the eye to follow them. I soon learned to move quietly 
ahead in the general direction that they had taken, and by watching 
carefully often saw them perched on a log or a low vine, where it 
was easier to see them than when they were on the ground. In 
flying they did not rise more than 10 to 20 feet, and usually traveled 
at a much lower level. In the evening I heard them calling in the 
distance from the forest border above the pastures, whit-wit-we-oo, 
uttered rapidly, repeated after a slight pause, and continued steadily 
for several minutes. The sound was low but resonant, so that the 
notes carried for a considerable distance. Male and female shot 
in company on January 10 were not in breeding condition, but 
on January 19 a female taken in the forest near the Punta Damas 
trail was nearly ready to lay. January 29 I shot another female 
that flew up to perch on a log, and then discovered that she had risen 
from her nest. This was on the ground, in a little space free of 
undergrowth beside a fallen log. A single egg was placed in the 
center of a thick, brown-colored dead leaf that measured 4 by 7 
inches. On this dark background the light-colored egg stood out 
clearly with no semblance of concealment. Two small, freshly 
plucked green leaves had been laid alongside on the larger leaf, ap- 
parently as decorations. The egg, oval in shape, measures 30.8 x 23.5 
