Through the friendly cooperation of the American Minister, the Honorable Meredith Nicholson, and the gracious assistance of Dr. Ventura Barnes, who visited these weekends, took me up the winding valley of the Rio Cumboto towards Turiamo, where we were heading.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 183 TIGKISOMA LINBATUM UNEATUM (Boddaert)
On subsequent examination of specimens in museums, this supposition was apparently confirmed, for in three skins from Venezuela I found that the length of the tip of the wing (i.e., the extension of the longest primary past the end of the longest secondary) ranged from 85 to 106 mm. THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN ^^ENEZUELA — WETMORE 185 The call is a high-pitched cry, indicative of the Red-tailed Godwit.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN ^^ENEZUELA — WETMORE 185 The call is a high-pitched scream, suggesting that of the red-tailed
188 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM Vol.87 in the northern Andes; a very small one, femoralis, in Venezuela and. The next day I found several more hoatzins in low, dense trees bordering the opposite side of the Klo Guarico.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 191
A few are found every day from October 23 to 31 around the lagoon below Ocumare de la Costa. A few are seen every day in the lagoon below Ocumare de la Costa from October 23rd to 31st.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 195 being a blend of these two). The combinations of these colors in
Peters "pointed out that the species auriculata, previously placed in Zenaida, agrees with Zenaidurain with 14 rectrices and properly belongs in the latter genus. Naumburg's findings would call the specimens listed here under vinaceorufa rubripes, but with this treatment I disagree after examination of a fair range of samples in the UK.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 197
Near Ocumare de la Costa these pigeons were common in the thorny thickets, where they walked on the ground or rested low. If they land on the ground, they quickly run away, remaining hidden among the branches.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 199 de la Costa, I heard these birds calling on November 9, and on Novem-
1 saw several in open woodland near Maracay
This bird is definitely darker than several from Palomina, in the Santa Marta region of Colombia. BIRDS OF NORTHERN" VENEZUELA — WETMORE 201the top of a dead tree standing in the open on the summit of a cliff.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN" VENEZUELA — WETMORE 201 the top of a dead tree standing in the open on the crest of a steep-
A cock taken on November 13th has slightly palerinite brown tints than those from further north in Venezuela, the black on the rectrices considerably reduced, and the underside somewhat paler. It was an interesting experience at El Sombrero to see all three species of anise in one day.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 203 Family TYTONIDAE
As I gathered in El Portachuelo above Rancho Grande on November 3, 6, and 10, groups of the big express wagons broke through the pass at lightning speed with a great rush of wings. On the south slope of the mountains at 3,000 feet elevation near Rancho Grande I saw several of these large hummers on November. In life, the basal three-quarters of the mandible were pale red; rest bill black; tarsus and toes flesh color;.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN \T}NEZUELA — WETMORE 205
The only female identified was a female captured on November 6 at 2,800 feet on the northern slope of the Cordillera de la Costa, below Rancho Grande. I collected two adult males here on October 26, found a female and a male in immature clothing, and saw others eating flowers or foraging on branches in the dry brush. On November 9, at an elevation of 3,000 feet on the northern slope of the Cordillera dela Costa, near Rancho Grande, I found these hummers common among roadside flowers.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 207
The male recorded clearly shows the green color of the middle rectrices that characterizes this breed. Early on the morning of November 9th, I heard a strange meowing in Rancho Grande that drew my attention to the persistent twitching. A comparison of this specimen with Gould's plate Trogon fulgidus leaves no doubt that this bird is the Venezuela form, given the detail of the white on the outer tail feathers, the short length of the forewings of the antrors, and the extension of the longest upper tail.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 209
The next day, lower down at 3,000 feet, a squawking note drew my attention to one of these birds in a roadside tree. This handsome woodpecker was found in the forests of the Sierra dela Costawhere, near Rancho Grande on November 5th, I heard one drumming on a dead tree trunk, producing two quick beats followed after a slight interval by another. The present species, since Ridgway^^'s revision of the generic status of the ivory-billed woodpecker group (theoldgenusCampephilus) has been usually treated in the genus Scapaneus.
BIRDS OF I^ORTHERN VENEZUELA — ^WETMORE 213
Near El Sombrero on November 16th I collected another as it rested on a vertical branch, which it struck vigorously, sticking up with its relatively large legs while its tail. On November 20, someone actively worked through small branches 20 feet from the ground in a wet forest near Rfo Guaricos. Near El Sombrero they were very common, so that three were taken on November 14th, 18th, and 19th.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — ^WETMORE 215 XIPHORHYNCHUS TRIANGULARIS HYLODROMUS Wetmore
On November 1st I collected two from several seen climbing over the logs in an open grove at La Providencia near Maracay, and on November 12th I shot one in open scrub near Parapara, Estado Guarico. Near El Sombrero, on November 18, I collected a female in a stand of good trees bordering a shallow raA^ne near La Meseta. The only one secured was a male, taken on November 6 at 3,000 feet near Rancho Grande.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA WETMORE 217 Family FURNARIIDAE
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — ^WETMORE 219from below on the northern slope of the Cordillera de la Costa at.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — ^WETMORE 219 from lower down on the north slope of the Cordillera de la Costa at
Males from Oeuniaie are decidedly greyish lirown on the back and have the undertail coverts white without black at the base. El Sombrero males have larger beaks and are lighter, lighter brown on the back. The female is paler on the back, has the black streaks on the breast almost obsolete, and shows more Vv'hite on the a})dome.
BIEDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA ^WETMORE 221
I called and watched intently until suddenly a bird moved in the dark shadows of the undergrowth with a flick of its wings and a moment later.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA WETMORE 223 draw the bird up within a few feet. It answered me regularly,
I secured two here of heavy growth, one low dowa and the other about 20 yards from the gi'ound. However, as one flew across the highway, my eye caught a blue light from behind. The birds were found at an elevation of 1,500 feet on the north side to the summit of the pass at El Portachuelo, and were most common above 2,500 feet.
BIRDS OF XORTHERX VENEZUELA WETMORE 225
The birds were common and were seen on the grounds of the American Legation in Caracas on 17 October, at Maracayon on 21 October and 11 November, and along the highway from Maracay to ElSombrero on 12 and 21 November. They appeared to be true forest birds, reminding me in their choice of haunt of the TuhrMrchus ^^ith which I had been familiar in Haiti and Puerto Rico. The birds are probably more common than these few sightings indicate, as they sit quietly in the smaller tree sand.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA WETMORE 227
Birds seen on the open south slopes under the rainforest at Ranclio Grande on November 4th and 9th were supposed to be this form, but of this I was not sure. Recently, van Rossem^^ has shown that the name Muscicapa meso-leuca Lichtenstein *» attributed by Hellmayr^ to the olive-sided flycatcher is in fact Elaeniamesoleuca of South America, making it possible to return to the known specific name borealis for the bird under discussion here. BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA WETMORE 229 The claim that there are two subspecies of olive-laced fly-.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA WETMORE 229 The contention that there are two subspecies of olive-sided fly-
At El Sombrero these birds were fairly common, three specimens being taken on November 18th and 21st (the last at Hato Paya). At El Sombrero on November 15, 1 shot an adult ale while moving near the ground in a small grove on the edge of the prairie on the Meseta. One was taken at Ocumare dela Costa on 27 October and another at El Sombrero on 18 November.
BIRDS OF XORTKERX TENEZUELA WETMORE 235
On the wing, this swallow looks plain gray-brown and white, the pale brown of the breast and upper breast, and the yellow color of the belly appears rarely and then only below. In males, the rough indentation of the external web of the external breast is significantly more visible than in females. I have elsewhere indicated my belief that our American barnacle is a geographical race of the Old World bird.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 237 Family CORVIDAE
Below the spots are much stronger, the markings extend over the foreneck, the blackish crown markings are more extensive and prominent, the gray crown darker, the bill large and heavy. Near El Sombrero these large wrens were found in groves on the Meseta or along the edges of the adjacent thickets. Their croaking, choking sounds were similar to those of the related form with the striped and spotted plumage Heleodytes nuchalis, but were louder and even more reminiscent of the grotesque sounds of a frog or toad.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 239 THRYOPHILUS RUFALBUS CUMANENSIS (Cabanis)
This House Wren was seen at all points visited, beginning with the troops of the American Legation in Caracas on October 17. In the mountains, near Rancho Grande, the wren was found in clearings around houses, and one was taken in Los Riitos on November 7. The song, although generally similar to that of Troglodytes aMon from the United States, is sharper in tone and more emphatic, especially when close.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 241 The specimens taken at Rancho Grande are slightly grayer on the
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA - WETMORE 241 Specimens taken at Rancho Grande are slightly grayer underparts. INTHEMISWhat OpenScrub covering thehothillsidesnearocumare Delacosta, from Tober23 to 31, thiswasoneofthemostprominent of small birds, Aswhenverii stopped the moment of trees in a tree in his travels, almost certain to see agnatcatchers through Twigs with fallen wings and tail tail in a Jaunt of a Jaunty-- traveling by the. The males and four females and all have the fins and nostrils distinctly white, a marldg which I do not find in any other specimens assigned to plumbiceps that are available.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 243 Family VIREONIDAE
On November 8, I collected an adult male from a flock of small forest birds at an altitude of 1200 meters. On November 13 I photographed one in dense brush 40 feet south of El Sombrero, and on November 18 I recorded another near town. In view of this, although the bird was not taken, I venture to record it as.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 245
Near El Sombrero I saw one in low, wet woods near the Rio Guarico on November 20, and on November 21 I shot an adult female near Hato Paya, 20 miles northwest. Ocumare de la Costa, October 23 (specimen from La Trilla), 29 and 30 (seen at sea level); El Sombrero, near the Rio Guarico, November. These alert, active birds were common around Rancho Grande, so I was able to obtain three specimens on November 5 and 8.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 247 seen almost daily about the house m which I lived where they ranged
The altitude where my specimens were taken is. lower than the 1000-foot level shown by Todd.®^. Near Ocumare de la Costa on October 30 I collected two of these birds and saw several more in an area of dense brush where the ground opened below. Near El Sombrero, on November 20, someone sang while walking along the ground, the song being a repetition of a single note given rather loudly, in a tone suggestive of the warriors of the Oporornis group. In Ocumare de la Costa before seven in the morning. On the 28th of October one flew with a low call from a large grape-tree on the beach, and went precariously to the marsh beyond.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 249 GYMNOMYSTAX MEXICANUS (Linnaeus)
At El Sombrerogracldes they were common, especially in the meadows along the Rio Guarico, and many were found in the town itself.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 251
These specimens agree closely with birds in the National Museum from Colonia Tovar and from Pico Naiguata, Estado Miranda. A male molting to adult black plumage, with brown feathers still remaining in the wings, was taken on October 31 along the Rio Cumboto. Near Rancho Grande they lay in the brush along the highway or in growths of heavy weeds, seen to an elevation of 3,500 feet.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 253 The specimen taken, which is just completing the molt, has the
These tanagers are quite common in the heavy forest of the Cordillera dela Costa at Rancho Grande, where I secured three sldns on November 3rd and 10th. The only similarity is in the colors represented, being the pattern arrangement and extent of the different colors. very different. An adult male was taken from a tall tree at the edge of the forest near Rancho Grande at an elevation of 3,700 feet on November 4.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 257
At Rancho Grande on November 10, I saw several males along the open road between 3,300 and 3,500 feet, and a few were recorded at El Sombrero, November 17 to 19, and near Hato Paya, November 21. On November 12, an adult female was shot 2 miles south of Ortiz, Estado Guarico, and several were seen in El Sombrero in November. An adult, taken on October 24 at 220 meters above the Rio Ciimboto near Ocumaredela Costa, was found at the edge of an entrance gate.
BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 259
