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Show 137 bristled; lores densely bristled; loral and frontal bristles invading the cere so as to almost cover it, especially on the upper surface, where they grow to the anterior edge; superciliary shield bare. Wing moderate, rounded, but the primaries straight; the primaries soft and obtuse; fourth quill longest; first about equal to the ninth; inner webs of the outer four distinctly sinuated, the siunation disappearing on the sixth. Tail a little shorter than the wing, much rounded, the feathers soft and appreciably tapering toward the rounded ends. Relationships.- From its external appearance, this curious hawk conveys no suspicion of near affinity with the Falconts, except in the peculiar shape of its nostrils. The plumage has the softness of that of the weaker forms of the Buteonince ( notably the genus Harpagus and the group Pernes), while the scutellation of the feet calls fit once to mind the genus CircaettiSj to which Heiyetotheres bears the closest resemblance in its general aspect. Yet with this ignoble appearance when in death or when at rest, this species exhibits, when aroused, an irritability and spirit said to exceed even that of the true falcons. The bony structure of this form shows at once its very close affinity with the Falcones, the osteology presenting only very slight differences, the most important of which is the greater elongation of the hallux compared with the length of the lateral toes. This form is of arboreal habits, and subsists chiefly on reptiles. Only one species is known, the Laughing Falcon of the older authors [ Falco cachinnans Linne). HERPBTOTHERES CACHINNANS. LAUGHING FALCON. Falco cachinnans LlXN. Sysf. Nat. i, 1766,128. Attur cachinnans Cuv. Rfeg. An. i, 1817, 320.- SPIX, AV. Bras, i, 1824, 8, tab. iii a.- SCHLEG. Mas. Pays- Bas, Astures, 1862, 26 ; Rev. Ace. 1873. 68. Herpetothei- es cachinnans VIETLL. NOUV. Diet, xviii, 1817, 317.- VIEILL. & OUD, Gal. Ois. i, 1825, 47, pi. 19.- CASSIN, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. iv, 1848, 87 ( Vera Cruz).- BOXAP. Consp. Av. i, 1850, 30.- STRICKL. Orn. Syn. i, 1855, 75.- BURM. Th. Bras, ii, 1855, 90.- SCLATER, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1857, 201 ( Jalapa); ib. 1868, 629 ( Venezuela).- LAWR. Ann. Lye. N. Y. ix, 1868, 132 ( Costa Rica); Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii, 1874,300 ( Mazatlan ; biographical notes).- SUMICHR. i&. i, iv, 1869, 560 ( Vera Crnz ; hot region).- GRAY, Hand List, i, 1869, 31.- SALVIN, P. Z. 8.1870, 214 ( Veragna).- Sci,. & SALV. ib. 838, ( coast Honduras); Norn. Neotr. 1873, 122.- PELZ. Orn. Bras. 1871, 7,398.- RIDGW. Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. 1873, 52.- SHARPE, Cat. Ace. Brit. Mus. 1874, 278. Cachinna cachinnans FLEMING, Phil. Zool. ii, 1822, 236. iMzdalion cachinnans VIGORS, Zool. Journ. i, 1824, 338. Macagua cachinnans LESSON, Tratte* Orn. 1831, 63. Circaetus cachinnans KAUP. MDS. Senck. iii, 1845, 260. Caehnna htrfetotheres GRAY, Gen. B. i, 1845,15, pi. 7, fig. 4. Xacagnd AZARA, Pax. Par. i, 1802,81.- HARTL. Ind. Azara, 1847,2. Hah- Entire intertropical region, from Mazatlan, Tehuantepec, and Vera Cruz to Bolivia and Paraguay. Not recorded from the Andean district. > Wing, 10.60- 11.80; tail, 8.50- 10.00; eulmen, 0.85- 1.00; tarsus, 2.15- 2.60; middle toe, 1.60- 1.90. Third to fifth quill longest; first equal to or longer than the ninth. Adult;- Head, neck, entire lower parts, and longer upper tail- coverts pale ochraceous or ochraceous- white; feathers of tbepileum with black shaft- streaks. A broad patch or " spectacle" of black on the side of the head, involving the posterior half of the lores, the orbital region, cheeks, and auriculars, and extending thence around the upper part of the nape in a broad, abruptly- defined collar, leaving an equally well- defined nuchal collar of ochraceous or whitish below it. Cpper surface, in general, blackish- brown, the primaries much varie- No. ? 1 |