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Show 138 gated on their basal half ( or more) with ochraceous. Tail deep black, crossed by six to eight sharply- defined bands of clear, pale ochraceous, these bands being narrower on the middle feathers, but wider on the outer, than the black ones; the terminal ochraceoas band much narrower than the others. " Iris brown; cere yellow; feet dull white*' ( Sumichrast, mss.). Young f ( No. 67884, < J, Nat. Mus. Costa Rica Prof. Wm. M. Gabb):- As described above, but the ochraceous deeper, and having everywhere, except along the median line below, delicate shffc- streaks of rusty- brown; the longer scapulars and tertialsirregularly bordered and indented with rusty- rufous; the bands on the tail are only six in number, including the terminal one, and consist of transverse spots, which on the middle feathers do not touch the edges. Bill black; cere and base of lower mandible lemon- yellow; orbital space dusky; tarsi and toes dull brownish- gray; claws dusky black. Biographical notes. 44 This remarkable species is only to be met with in the thick forests of the warmer regions I found it equally as common in the locality of Tehuantepecas that of Mazatlau; northward its range stops in the densely wooded districts of the western and southern ports of Sonora. It is one of the most peculiar and easily identified hawks of this region, not only from its well- defined markings, its large and broadly crested head, but its well- known scream of guaco ( pronounced traco), which is often repeated for an hour or so at a time, either late in the evening or early in the morning. When heard at twilight amid the solemn and eternal woods of these latitudes a feeling of melancholy is produced upon the weary traveler, far from his native land> as he threads some dark and intricate path, crowded on all sides with impenetrable undergrowth, and overhung with the arched branches of trees of immense size and strange forms. This hawk is often found in pairs, and the answer to each other's call makes, at times, a singular medley of talking and. laughing together. It is seldom seen in an open country, or soaring at any great height. Its flight is a quick successive movement of the wings, passing through the woods or across an opening with rapid ease. It subsists almost eutirely upon reptiles and rodents, which its stout claws are well adapted for holding, and its rough, scaly legs are armored against their bites. It sometimes, however, preys upou birds."-( GRAYSON, " Birds of Western and Northwestern Mexico.*- Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. vol. ii, part iii, number ii, p. 300.) List of specimens in United States National Museum, I 1 o 1G526I 30410| 39081 507701 51026 57843! 595) 3, 62131 67884 i- 2 I No. 1H a « Ori fspec n. age. 52. * oCs- P « T< \ £ I Locality. When collected. Fiom whom received. I CoUecttd b y - 3 . . . 61ft... 914;. 857- 2 . 66. 231,. . cf ad. . Ad. . c^ ad. Brazil Costa Rica Aug.-. ... do i Aug. Id, 1864 Mazatlan i Panama Tehuantepec ! Dec. 15,1P68 ... do , Oct -, 1869 Calobrc, Veragua Oct. -, 1869 Tehuantepec Talamanca, Costa Rica Capt. T. T. Page, XT. S. N. Dr. A. von Frantrtue] .... do Col. A. J. Grayson. J. MoLeannan Prot F. Sumichrast .... do O. Salrln Dr. Speer Other specimens examined.-- Mus. Philad. Acad. PNro. tT8. V, \ 6M;. Gmaabsb. . B. oston Soc, N. H., 3 Mus. Comp. Zool., 1; G. N. Lawrence, 2; other source, 1; total, 23. |
