138 



gated on their basal balf (or more) with ochraceous. Tail deep black, 

 crossed by six to eight sharply-defined bands of clear, pale ochra- 

 ceous, these bands being narrower on the middle feathers, but wider on 

 the outer, than the black ones; the teiminal ochraceous band much 

 narrower than the others. " Iris brown; cere yellow; feet dull white" 

 (Sumichrast, mss.). Young f (No. 67884, J*, Nat. Mus. Costa Eica 

 Prof. Wm. M. Gabb) : — As described above, but the ochraceous deeper, 

 and having everywhere, except along the median line below, delicate 

 shaft-streaks of rusty-brown ; the longer scapulars and tertials irregu- 

 larly bordered and indented with rusty-rufous ; the bands on the tail 

 are only six in number, including the terminal one, and consist of trans- 

 verse spots, which on the middle feathers do not touch the edges. Bill 

 black; cere and base of lower mandible lemon-yellow; orbital space 

 dusky ; tarsi and toes dull brownish-gray ; claws dusky black. 



BiograpJiical notes. 



"This remarkable species is only to be met with in the thick forests 



of the warmer regions I found it equally as common in the 



locality of Tehuantepecas that of Mazatlan ; northward its range stops 

 in the densely wooded districts of the western and southern ports of 

 Sonora. It is one of the most peculiar and easily identified hawks of 

 this region, not only from its well-defined markings, its large and broadly 

 crested head, but its well-known scream of guaco (pronounced icaco), 

 which is often repeated for an hour or so at a time, either late in the 

 evening or early in the morning. When heard at twilight amid the 

 solemn and eternal woods of these latitudes a feeling of melancholy is 

 I)roduced upon the weary traveler, far from his native land, as he threads 

 some dark and intricate path, crowded on all sides with impenetrable 

 undergrowth, and overhung with the arched branches of trees of im- 

 mense size and strange forms. This hawk is often found in pairs, and 

 the answer to each other's call makes, at times, a singular medley of 

 talking and laughing together. It is seldom seen in an open country, 

 or soaring at any great height. Its flight is a quick successive move- 

 ment of the wings, i)assing through the woods or across an opening 

 with rapid ease. It subsists almost entirely upon reptiles and rodents, 

 •which its stout claws are well adapted for holding, and its rough, scaly 

 legs are armored against their bites. It sometimes, however, preys upon 

 birds." — (Grayson, " Birds of Western and Northw^estern Mexico." — 

 Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. vol. ii, part iii, number ii, p. 300.) 











List of specimens in Uvited States National Museum. 





o 



3 

 C 



o 



5 6 

 o 



6 

 iz; 



"a 

 a 

 "Sb 



O 



o 



6 



Locality. 



"When col- 

 lected. 



Fi om whom received. 



Collected by— 



1G326 















Capt. T. T. Page, F. 



S.N. 

 Dr. A. Ton Frantzius 



30410 













A 





.... 



3 

 612 





9 



9 



d 



d ad. 



do Aug. Id, 1864 



Mazatlan 



do 





50770 

 51026 



Col. A. J. Grayson.. 



J. McLeannan 



Prof. F. Sumichrast . 

 ....do 





57843 

 595)3 



:;:; 



209 



914 



2572 



66 



231 





Telniantepec 



do 



Dee. 15, lf=6a 

 Oct. —,1860 

 Oct. —.1869 





62131 









0. Salvin 







- - 



Ad. 



cf ad. 









67884 



Talamanca, Costa Eica 

 / ... 





Prof. W. M. Gabb... 















Other specimens examined.— Mns. Philad. Acad. N. S., 6; mug. Boston tfoc, N. H., 3 

 Mus. Conip. Zool., 1 ; G. N. Lawrence, 2 ; other sourc s, 1 ; total, 2.3. 



