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Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XXXVII, 



addition to the foregoing, Nyctinomus ochraceus and Mimetillus moloneyi 

 have been found in the crops of other individuals of these hawks. 



A few words about this remarkable bird of prey may not be out of place 

 here, especially as it seems in so many ways adapted just for the capture 

 of bats. Its unusually large yellow eyes suggest at once its nocturnal habits. 

 By day it seldom appears but becomes extremely active at dusk. Falcon- 

 like it pounces upon even the most rapid fliers among bats, striking them, we 

 believe, with its long talons. Its small sharply hooked, laterally compressed 

 bill may help to kill them, and its wide gape of course can dispose of a dead 

 bat at once (Plate LII, Figs. 2 and 3). From our observations we feel 

 inclined to think that it swallows its prey in full flight; and if not softened 

 by the gastric fluids, such bats may make satisfactory specimens. Machce- 

 rhamphus anderssoni is not so rare as generally believed, ranging through 

 tropical Africa to Madagascar. We have seen it all across the Belgian 

 Congo from Boma to Faradje, in open and forest country alike. In color it 

 is brownish-black with faint gray bands on the tail, and a little white on the 

 nape, sides of throat and abdomen. In its general proportions it suggests 

 a peregrine falcon, and though ornithologists have often associated this 

 genus with Buteo or Pernis, it bears no external resemblance to either of 

 them (Plate LV). Tall bare trees are preferred as perches, but most of 

 the evening seems to be spent on the wing, skimming over the rivers, shoot- 

 ing about the clearings or over the bush country in pursuit of flying prey, 

 or perhaps even coming to raid a colony of nesting weaver-birds. 



To say that it preys exclusively on Chiroptera would not be true. Of 

 the nine stomachs examined two were empty, while the others contained a 

 total of eleven bats and ten birds. Half of the latter however were taken 

 from a single hawk. They were bank swallows {Riparia riparia), captured 

 as they were flying down the Ituri River to roost in the evening, and swal- 

 lowed whole, head first. So bats are really the more usual food. 



In Africa as elsewhere, stomach examinations of other birds of prey, 

 either nocturnal or diurnal, very rarely disclose bats; indeed they seem to 

 be caught only by accident. 



59. Chserephon (Lophomops) cristatus sp. nov. 

 Text Fig. 10 (p. 464). 



A small dark-brown bat nearly 3.5 inches (87 mm.) in length, with white- 

 tipped hair below, and pure-white hair along the sides of the body on the 

 inner edges of the wing membranes. The latter are thin and white, but the 

 most striking feature of all is the tuft of brown hair on the posterior surface 

 of the interaural membrane. This topknot is very like that of C. 



