SYMBOLS 
t 
Summer range of breeding birds, by vegetation 
zones (see below) is given in the righthand column. 
The breeding status of some species — indicated 
by an asterisk (*) — is based on reasonable assum¬ 
ption, although firm evidence is lacking. 
Range delineation is arbitrarily drawn. The 
ecology of this region is quite varied and complex. 
Numerous interdigitations, and isolated habitat 
pockets (some caused by clearing of the woodland) 
complicate the determination of faunal 
distribution on altitudinal levels. 
The Gomez Farias Region, as designated by 
Martin (1958: 6-7), includes eight of the tv/elve 
vegetation zones recognized in Mexico by Leopold 
(1950: 508);. however, for the purpose of this 
listing, only a portion of the region is used, and 
this segment is simplified into five zones, as 
follow: 
L - Lowland tropical Riverside forest; cul¬ 
tivated fields; tropical deciduous forest 
to lower slopes of the sierra. 
T - Mountainside tropical Upper portions 
of tropical deciduous forest; tropical 
semi-evergreen or mountainside tropical 
forest to about 3000 feet. 
C - Cloud forest Oak - sweet gum and oak - 
sweet gum - beech cloud forests between 
about 3000 and 5000 feet. 
P - Humid pine-oak Humid pine - oak for¬ 
est mainly on eastern flank of the sierra 
from about 5000 to 7000 feet. 
O - Dry oak-pine Dry oak - pine woodland 
and savannah on the western slope of the 
sierra. 
NOMENCLATURE 
Names used are those listed in The Species of 
Middle American Birds, Eugene Eisenmann, 
1955. Trans. Linnaean Society of N . Y. VII, New 
York, revised in certain instances to conform to 
current A.O.U. Check-list Committee usage. 
When authors of the most commonly used field 
guides use different names, these are given in 
parentheses and the author identified by letter. 
B —Emmet Reid Blake, D—Irby Davis, E—-Er¬ 
nest P. Edwards, P-—Roger T. Peterson and Ed¬ 
ward L. Chalif. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
The author is indebted to John C. Arvin for his major 
contribution to this list, especially in lowland birds 
around his base of operations at Rancho Cielito. Work 
at Rancho de Cielo by the author and others, especially 
Marie Webster and Mabel Deshayes, has been made 
possible and productive by the cooperation of the Sta¬ 
tion Director, Barbara Warburton, to whom the author 
is profoundly grateful. 
THE LIST 
Rufescent Tinamou (Thicket Tinamou, P), 
Crypturellus cinnamomeus LTC 
Least Grebe, Colymbus dominicus iPodiceps 
dominions , DEP) L* 
Eared Grebe or Black-necked Grebe, Colymbus 
caspicus iPodiceps caspicus , DEP) 
Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps 
Olivaceous Cormorant (Neotropic Cormorant, 
P), Phalacrocorax olivaceus L* 
Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias 
Green Heron, Butorides virescens L^ 
t 
Little Blue Heron, Florida caerulea 
Common Egret or Large Egret (Am. Egret, D; 
Great Egret, P), Casmerodius albus (Egretta 
egretta, D) 
Snowy Egret, Leucophovx thula (Egretta thula , 
DP) 
Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis 
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Mexican Tiger- 
Bittern, D; Tiger Bittern, E ),Heterocnus 
mexicanus (Tigrisoma mexicanum , DP) L 
Black-bellied Tree-Duck, Dendrocygna 
autumnalis IP 
Muscovy' (Muscovy Duck, BDE), Cairina 
moschata L 
Common Pintail (Northern Pintail, DP; Pintail 
E),Anas acuta 
Gad wall (Gad wall Duck, D), Anas strepera 
Northern Shoveler (Shoveler, E), Spatula clypeata 
Baldpate or Am. Wigeon (Am. Wigeon, BDE; 
Am. Wigeon, P ),Mareca americana 
Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris 
Lesser Scaup, Aythya a (finis 
Ruddy Duck, Oxvura jamaicensis 
Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus L 
Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura # 
White-tailed Kite, Elanus ieucurus L 
Plumbeous Kite, Ictinia plumbea T 
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter striatus 
Bicolored Hawk, A ccipiter bicoior LT 
Cooper’s Hawk (Cooper Hawfc, B), Accipiter 
cooperii 
White-tailed Hawk, Buteo albicaudatus L* 
Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis * 
Roadside Hawk (Large-billed Hawk, D), Buteo 
magnirostris LT 
Gray Hawk, Buteo nitidus (Buteo plagiatus , D) LTC 
Bay-winged Hawk (Harris’ Hawk, D; Harris’s 
Hawk, E), Parabuteo unicinctus (Parabuteo 
harrisi , D) L 
Common Black Hawk (Black Crab-Hawk, D), 
Buteogallus anthracinus LT 
Volume 28, Number 1 
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