GERANOSPIZIAS. 53 



Geranospisa gracilis, var. niger, Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 299 ". 



Geranospiza cterulescens, Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 218"; 1860, p. 44"; Lawr. Anu. Lye. N. Y. 



vii. p. 289 ''; Stone, ?r. Ac. Phil. 1890, p. 204". 

 Geranospiza ccerulescens, var. niger, Ridgw. Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. xvi. p. 85". 



Schistaceo-iiiger, plumis cerviois postioje ad basin albis : subtus concolor, mento albo variegato, plumis 

 abdominis tibiarum et tectricum caudae superiorum albido etricte marginatis ; subalaribus nigris, albo 

 variegatis ; remigibus subtus fasoiis duabus irregularibus albidis notatis ; cauda nigra, albido terminata et 

 fasciis duabus albis notata : rostro nigro, pedibus rubidis. Long, tota circa 19-5, al» 12-3, caud* 9-5, 

 tarsi 3-3. (Descr. feminae ex Esouintla, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 



Juv. Loris et fronte albo intermixtis, corpore toto subtus nigricante cervino-albido transfasciato, subcaudalibus 

 fere omnino cervino-albidis. 



Hah. Mexico, both coasts {Sumichrast'^), Mazatlan {Grayson i^), Presidio de Mazatlan 

 {Forrer), Tecolapa in Colima {W. Lloyd), Cordova {Salle^^), Santa Efigenia s, 

 Cacoprieto, Tonala {Suinichrast), Buctzotz and Peto in Yucatan, Meco I. » lo 

 [G. F. (rawme/-), Shkolak {Stone & BaJcer^^); British Hondueas, Orange Walic 

 {G. F. Gaumer); Guatemala i3, DueBias i^ {0. S.), Savana Grande, Escuintla 

 {0. S. & F. B. G.); Honduras, San Pedro {G. M. Whitely^); Nicaragua, 

 Chinandega, Ocotal {W. B. Eichardson) ; Costa Rica, Pozo Azul de Pirris 

 {Zeledon ») ; Panama, Mina de Chorcha {Arc6 ^), Lion Hill {M'Leannan i^). 



This singular bird was first described ^ by Du Bus from a Mexican specimen, and was 

 subsequently figured in his ' Esquisse Ornithologique ' ^. It has since been found to 

 occur over a large part of the hotter regions of our country, fiom Mazatlan on the west 

 coast of Mexico, and the State of Vera Cruz on the east, to Panama. Grayson ^^ speaks 

 of it as one of the rarest of the Falconidse in Western Mexico. He only secured two 

 specimens during his residence at Mazatlan. These were found near ponds in the low 

 ground near the Rio Mazatlan. One, shot in February, had just captured a large 

 frog ; the other was obtained in April near the same place. In the stomach of each he 

 found the partly digested remains of frogs, and in one a small water-snake. He 

 describes the bird as having a sluggish nature, sitting listlessly for hours on the same 

 branch of a tree. Mr. Stone secured a specimen near the " aguada " of Shkolak, in 

 Yucatan. A specimen shot by Salvin near Duenas was in the forest of low trees which 

 then skirted the hills to the eastward of the plain of Duenas. It was not near water, 

 though both the Rio Guacalate and the Lake of Dueiias were not far off. The stomach 

 of this bird contained a small mammal. The iris was burnt-sienna colour, the outer 

 portion of the ring being lighter coloured than the inner, the legs blood-orange, and 

 the cere black. Dueiias (4900 feet) is above the usual range of G. niger, but other 

 specimens subsequently obtained by us were from the lower elevations of Savana 

 Grande and Escuintla (1200 feet). All these places are on the slope of the mountains 

 trending towards the Pacific Ocean. We have no record of the species being found 

 on the Atlantic side of the Cordillera in Guatemala, though it doubtless occurs there, 



