302 . BIRDS OF WESTERN AND 



192. Buteo horealis var. costaricensis Ridg. 



" " " montanus Proc. Bost. Soc. of N. H., xiv, p. 301. 



Socorro Island, Grayson. 



193. Buteo nigricoUis Lath. 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



" No locality that I have ever visited in my researches for the objects pertaining to ornithology equals that 

 where the Mazatlan River forms an expansive valley near the seacoast, for the great numbers and varieties of 

 hawks there met with. They seem to assemble in this favorite spot from far and near, and almost all the 

 known species are represented here during the dry season. This may be accounted for fi'om the fact that this 

 extensive region is diversified with rudely cultivated farms, old fields overgrown with brambles and weeds, 

 impenetrable thorny woods and forests of large trees, interspersed here and there with stagnant lagoons and 

 lakes, through the centre of which wind the clear waters of the Rio Mazatlan. Here abounds animal life in 

 great abundance ; the old neglected fields overgrown with matted vegetation harbor innumerable field-mice 

 and other rodents ; here various species of lizards and snakes dart through the thickets when scared fi-om 

 then* sunny beds. The lagoons furnish other reptiles ; swarms of ducks and various kinds of water-fowl re- 

 sort to their slimy waters ; the woods are enlivened with great numbers of birds, all of which furnish to the 

 difierent species of hawks their favorite prey. 



" The remarkable species which heads this article I discovered in this locality ; it is entirely new to me, and 

 I have not yet seen it mentioned in any volume at my command ; the specimen has been sent to the National 

 Institution at Washington for identification. The flight of this hawk seems rather heavy, resembling some- 

 what the common Fish Hawk, the wings appearing very broad, and the tail remarkably short. Upon exam- 

 ining the contents of the stomach after skinning it, I found only the remains of fish, one of which had been 

 but freshly devoured ; it was a species of perch found iu the lagoons and rivers of this region." 



194. Buteo alhonotatus Gray. 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



" Not common, resident. It flies easily and gracefully, sometimes at a great height. I have seen it fre- 

 quently balance itself in the air when in search of its prey, which it appeared to be watching for in the grass 

 or weeds, where such rodents as it preys upon inhabit. I have sometimes, when it was sailing around, taken 

 it for the Turkey Vulture, its flight and perigrinations in the air, as well as its color, at a distance, so much 

 resembling that common bird." 



195. Graxirex unicinctus var. harrisii (And.). 



Morphnus unicinctus Finsch, Abh. nat. Ver. zu Bremen, 1870, p. 363. 

 Mazatlan, Tepic, Jalisco, Grayson ; Colima, Xantus. 



"A common species at all seasons, in every locality." 



196. Uruhitinga zonura (Shaw). 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



"This fine species is not a very common one ; it is resident in the interior parts of the iierras calientes, and 

 does not inhabit the vicinity of the esteros and seacoast as ZT. anthracina does." 



197. Uruhitinga anthracina (Licht.). 

 Mazatlan, San Bias, Grayson. 



« Common at all seasons; usually found about the esteros and marshes near the seacoast, subsisting chiefly 

 upon land crabs." 



