2.)b BIRDS or BRITISH GUIANA. 



of head, throat, and neck all round, dark ash-grey, the long crest- 

 featheis blackish ; chest black ; abdomen and under tail-coverts 

 white ; thighs narrowly barred with dark brown ; lesser under 

 wing-coverts black, more or less intermixed Avith white ; under 

 surface of quills and tail-feathers broadly banded with pale grey. 

 '' Bill black ; fe^t yellow : iris brown," 



Total length 'J'JO mm., culinen (excluding the cere) 51. wing GOO, 

 tail 390, tarsus 124, middle toe and claw 114, hind claw without 

 toe 70. 



The bird from which the description is taken was collected on 

 the Furuni River. 



Breeding-season. Unrecorded in British Guiana. 



Sest. Returns each year to the same nest to bre< d (T. 

 A. Ll">/d). Nests on the topmost branches of tall trees, the nest 

 being as large as that of the large Mycteria (ScJiomburr/k). 



E(jfis. ?Two in number (C A. Lloyd). 



Range in British Guiana. Mazaruni River, Puruni River 

 (McConnell collection) : Berbice, Demerara, and Esseqnebo Rivers 

 (QuelcJi) ; Essequebo River (^Sc/ionihnrgk) ; Kanaku Mountain 

 Range {C. A. Lloyd). 



Ljiralimital Range. South America to Paraguay and Central 

 America to Mexico. 



Schomburgk states (Reis. Guian. iii. p. 738) that this is the 

 largest and finest bird of prey in British Guiana, but is rather rare 

 — he had only seen a few specimens. He says, however, that it is 

 fairly common in the vicinity of the sources of the River Essequebo, 

 as the natives in that district had many ornaments which they had 

 made with its feathers. He brought one alive to Europe and 

 deposited it in the Zoological Gardens in Berlin, but it did not live 

 long. This bird looks more grand in the ])ure white immature 

 plumage than when adult. According to the natives the Har])y 

 is the monkevs' oreatest enemv. and thev beoin to wail the moment 

 thev catch sight of one. Schomburgk also mentions (vol. ii. 

 p. 3G5) that it preys on sloths, and is said to tear them to pieces 

 while tliey are clinging tighlly to the branch of the tree on which 

 the Harpy had attacked them. It rests on the topmost branches 

 of tall trees, the nest being as large as that of the large Mycteria. 

 The •' Macusis" call it Guan. 



Mr. J. J. Quelch states (Timehri (2) iv. p. 327) that he obtained 

 a specimen of the Harpy Eagle ( Thrasactus liarpyia) on the Upper 

 Berbice River. 



