Fig. 1.—The Tacarcuna wood quail, gallito del monte fajeado (Odontophorus dialeucos Wetmore), found on Cerro Mali and Cerro Tacarcuna, Darien (see page 327). Painting by Walter Weber. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLUME 150 (WHOLE VOLUME) THE BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA/ Part 1.—TiNAMiDAE (Tinamous) to Rynchopidae (Skimmers) By ALEXANDER WETMORE Research Associate Smithsonian Institution ! (Publication 4617) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION DECEMBER 27, 1965 PORT CITY PRESS, INC. BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. CONTENTS Page Introduction 1 The List of Birds 2 Acknowledgments 4 Order Tinamiformes 5 Family Tinamidae : Tinamous ; Tinamous 5 Order Podicipediformes 24 Family Podicipedidae : Grebes ; Somormujos 24 Order PROCELLARnFORMES 31 Family Diomedeidae : Albatrosses ; Albatroses 31 Procellariidae : Shearwaters, Petrels; Pardelas, Petreles 35 Hydrobatidae : Storm Petrels ; Painos 42 Order Pelecaniformes 48 Family Phaethontidae : Tropicbirds ; Aves del Tropico 48 Pelecanidae : Pelicans ; Pelicanos 51 Sulidae : Boobies, Gannets ; Bobas, Piqueros 55 Phalacrocoracidae : Cormorants ; Cuervos Marinos 64 Anhingidae : Snakebirds ; Cuervos de Aguja 69 Fregatidae : Frigatebirds ; Tijeretas de Mar 72 Order Ciconiiformes 78 Family Ardeidae : Herons ; Garzas 78 Cochleariidae : Boat-billed Heron; Garzota Cuchara 114 Ciconiidae : Storks ; Cigiienas 119 Threskiornithidae : Ibises, Spoonbills; Cocos, Garzas Paletas.. 122 Order Anseriformes 129 Family Anatidae : Ducks ; Patos 129 Order Falconiformes 153 Family Cathartidae: American Vultures; Buitres Americanos 153 Accipitridae : Hawks, Eagles, and Allies ; Gavilanes, Aguilas, y Especies Afines 171 Pandionidae : Osprey ; Aguila Pescadora 256 Falconidae : Falcons, Forest Falcons, and Caracaras ; Halcones, Halcones del Monte, y Caranchos 259 Order Galliformes 293 Family Cracidae : Curassows and Guans ; Pavones y Faisanas 293 Phasianidae: Quails, Pheasants, and Peacocks; Codomices, Faisanas, y Pavos Reales 310 Order Gruiformes 334 Family Aramidae : Limpkin ; Carrao 334 Rallidae: Rails, Gallinules, and Coots; Cocalecas y Gallinetas de Agua 338 Heliomithidae : Finfoots; ZambuUidores de Agua 365 Eurypygidae: Sunbitterns; Abanicos 369 iii iv SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. ISO Page Order Charadrhformes 372 Family Jacanidae : Ja^anas ; Gallitos de Agua 372 Haematopodidae : Oystercatchers ; Ostreros 378 Charadriidae : Plovers ; Chorlitos 382 Scolopacidae : Snipe, Sandpipers, and Allies; Agachadizas; Playeros y AHados 393 Family Recurvirostridae : Avocets and Stilts; Avocetas y Cigiieiiuelas. 427 Phalaropodidae : Phalaropes ; Falaropos 429 Stercorariidae : Skuas and Jaegers ; Gaviotas Salteadoras 433 Laridae : Gulls and Terns ; Gaviotas y Gaviotines 438 Rynchopidae : Skimmers ; Rayadores 463 Index 467 THE BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA, PART 1: TINAMIDAE (TINAMOUS) TO RYNCHOPIDAE (SKIMMERS) By Alexander Wetmore Research Associate, Smithsonian Institution INTRODUCTION The long, narrow Isthmus of Panama, which unites North America on the one hand and South America on the other, is a geographic area outstanding in its interest to biologists in the systematic field as the land connection between these two regions of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Present understanding of geologic history indicates that the two areas were separated by open sea in the Tertiary period for a vast space of time that began in the Paleocene epoch and extended toward the end of the Pliocene. For 50 million years South America remained isolated from other lands, while North America had periodic union with Asia through land connections in the present region of Bering Sea. The great diversity in plant and animal life that now marks the Panamanian land bridge is a reflection of invasions from the two adjacent continental areas. Study of present- day distribution, variation, and relationship in any group is of deep interest and valuable in details of scientific information. The present account is the first installment of a summary of what is known of the birdlife of the area. My personal studies in the field began in 1944 and have continued annually for approximately three months each year since 1946, with laboratory investigation of speci- mens and a survey of the published works of others who have made contributions in this region. The number of kinds of birds known from the isthmus is so large, and materials available are so extensive, that completion of the report has required more time than originally contemplated. As there is in- creasing demand for information on this subject, especially from those engaged in investigation of diseases where species of birds may be suspected as carriers, it has become desirable to present the summary accounts family by family as they are completed in order that the information may be available. This first installment covers the families in systematic sequence from the tinamous, family Tinamidae, SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. 150 (WHOLE VOLUME) 2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 through the order that includes the shorebirds, gulls, and their allies. A general account of personal field work, with a review of the studies of other ornithologists, and general discussions of the avifauna will be left for the end. It may be sufficient here to outline briefly the character of the isthmus as included in the present political boundaries of the Republic of Panama. The entire Caribbean slope and eastern Darien on the Pacific side are the regions of heaviest rainfall. In the northwest, in the Province of Bocas del Toro, there is no marked break in precipitation for any lengthy period throughout the year. The Pacific slope, from the Costa Rican boundary eastward, has a definite dry season, mainly between the latter part of December and the middle or end of April. Because of this difference the denser forest areas are found on the north and in Darien, where originally tree growth was continuous. On the Pacific side there are extensive areas of open savannas. And forest where found is more open and in part deciduous, so that many trees lose their leaves in dry season. These were the original conditions, now extensively modified over great areas that have been cleared for agricultural use. These changes are most marked from the western boundary in Chiriqui east through the Province of Panama, where most of the original forest cover is gone, and are proceeding rapidly elsewhere. The main areas that still are primitive lie on the Caribbean drainage in the inland mountain and hill area of interior Bocas del Toro, over the interior hills of San Bias, and on the Pacific side on the mountains and hills of the interior from the eastern end of the Province of Panama through Darien. The isthmus in the main is in the Tropical Zone, with subtropical zone forest in the mountain regions of the western half. Additional areas of the latter zone of lesser extent are found along the central spine of the Azuero Peninsula, and in the mountains near the Colombian boundary. Limited Temperate Zone conditions extend across the top of the Chiriqui volcano and on some of the higher ridges to the east in Chiriqui and Veraguas. THE LIST OF BIRDS Each family is introduced by a brief general statement on the group as a whole throughout its entire range. This is followed, where necessary, by a key to the species that have been recorded in Panama, based on the most evident characters of color, size, and form. While this may be of assistance in naming birds in Hfe, it is INTRODUCTION 3 intended primarily for the identification of specimens in hand. The arrangement in the keys is artificial, and may not follow any order of close relationship. The order of the families is that in my latest revision of the classification for living and fossil birds of the world (Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 139, no. 11, June 23, 1960, pp. 1-37). References to literature, given in parentheses, are sufficiently com- plete to allow their consultation if desired. A complete bibliography, and with it a gazetteer of localities, will be included in the final part. The account of each bird begins with the scientific name, followed by vernacular names in English and in Spanish. Where the species is divided into geographic races, if two or more of these are found in Panama, general information that applies to all is given under a species heading. This includes brief phrases on characters that may help in identification, and a description. The subspecies follow, each with its scientific name and reference, details of color, size, or form on which the race has been recognized, measurements, range in the Republic, and any other pertinent information. If the nominate form is included among these, reference to this name is given under the subspecies in question. Where this race does not reach Panama, the species heading carries this reference. In variable species of wide range, where only one of the forms is found all these data are in- cluded under the heading with the trinomial scientific name. Ver- nacular names used apply to the species as a whole. No such names are given to separate subspecies. Vernacular names have been selected with care, with particular reference to usage in standard works that cover the area. This fre- quently has involved choice, since in wide-ranging species divided in several geographic races it was early custom to assign such a name to each subspecies, often without regard to its related forms. Modern practice gives vernacular names to the species in its entirety, since the former method was cumbersome and frequently mislead- ing. In the case of migrants from the north, the names used are those of the official A.O.U. check-list (Check-list of North American Birds Prepared by a Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union, fifth edition, 1957). With others, particularly tropical species of wide distribution, names frequently have varied so that a choice has been necessary. The attempt with these has been to select the term most often used, and the one most appropriate. In this, the list proposed by Eugene Eisenmann (The Species of Middle American Birds, Trans. Linn. Soc. New York, vol. 7, 1955) is definitely valuable. 4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 The Spanish names in many instances offer difficulty. Where the species are known to Panamanian countrymen there is no complica- tion, but there are scores of kinds of birds that are not so recognized. With those that range widely in the American Tropics often there are appropriate names available from other Spanish-speaking coun- tries, and these I have taken wherever practicable. Occasionally with birds of obscure habit it has been necessary to propose names both in English and in Spanish, with care that they may be appropriate. The scientific names follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature of 1961 (with certain reservations and some mis- giving). Outlines of range and important records are based on an extended survey of literature and of specimens in museums, in addition to information available from my own work in the field. To avoid misunderstanding it should be explained that many of the names of localities on skins collected by J. H. Batty in Panama at the beginning of this century are not valid. This is particularly true of skins labeled from islands off the coast of Chiriqui. It is certain that Batty visited Isla Coiba, but a considerable part of the specimens that he labeled as from this island came from the mainland, and data attributing numerous skins to other islands in the area are without question fictitious. (See Wetmore, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 134, no. 9, 1957, pp. 6-8.) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout my personal field work in the Republic I have had close association with the Museo Nacional of Panama, through its director. Dr. Alejandro Mendez Pereira, and with the staff of the Gorgas Me- morial Laboratory, especially with its former directors, the late Dr. Herbert Clark and his successor. Dr. Carl Johnson, and with Dr. Pedro Galindo, entomologist. This collaboration has continued under Dr. Martin Young, who became the head of the Laboratory in 1964. During my studies on the avifauna of the Republic of Panama I have had the friendly cooperation of Dr. Eugene Eisenmann, who has placed at my disposal many records of occurrence and other data from his personal notes, in addition to the information in his numerous publications. All have been of major assistance. The illustrations, presented to show the form in characteristic species in each family, are from the skilful hand of Walter A. Weber. FAMILY TINAMIDAE 5 Governmental authorities of the Republic of Panama have been uniformly courteous in assistance, especially the officials of the Mi- nisterio de Relaciones Exteriores, through credentials that have rec- ognized the scientific nature of my travels and work. I have to thank especially Coronel Bolivar Vallarino, Comandante Jefe de la Guardia Nacional, for permission to visit Isla Coiba. Authorities of the Panama Canal Zone have been universally helpful, and I owe much to the assistance of the Air Force and of the Department of the Army located in the Canal Zone, especially in transportation to remote areas, accessible without such help with much difficulty if at all. In my travels in the course of my studies, which have taken me widely throughout the Republic, from the Costa Rican border in Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro to the Colombian frontier in Darien and San Bias, I have had courteous and friendly reception everywhere from residents of the country, and I owe much to many for their assistance. Order TINAMIFORMES Family TINAMIDAE : Tinamous ; Tinamous The family of tinamous, presumed to be of South American origin, has more than 40 living species in the present range, from southern Mexico south through Central America and South America to the Straits of Magellan. The three found in Panama, known there uni- versally as perdices, are shy inhabitants of forests or thickets, seldom seen as they remain constantly under cover of the ground vegetation. All three are heavy-bodied birds, with long, rather slender necks and small heads. The short tail has its stiffened feathers hidden by the elongated upper and lower tail coverts, so that the body appears short and compact like that of a guineafowl. In traversing their haunts, one occasionally sees a tinamou burst out near at hand with a startling roar of wings, but usually the birds slip away on foot so that their presence is known mainly from their calls. The smallest of the three is the most common, being present universally throughout the Tropical Zone wherever there are thickets or second growth to offer it secure cover. The great tinamou is widely distributed wherever natural forest re- mains, from sea level to the lower edge of the subtropical zone in the mountains. Though important game birds, these two cannot with- stand excessive hunting. The highland tinamou is known only from the subtropical zone forests around the Volcan de Chiriqui, where it is local and far from common. 6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 KEY TO SPECIES OF TINAMIDAE 1. Size large (equal to a small domestic fowl); wing more than 180 mm.; posterior face of tarsus rough, with upper margins of scutes prominent and projecting 2 Size much smaller (equal to a medium-sized pigeon) ; wing less than 130 mm. ; posterior face of tarsus smooth, like the anterior surface. Little tinamou, Cryptiirellus soui, p. 17 2. Tarsus strong, with projecting upper margin of posterior scutes sharp and rough; toes, including claws, relatively shorter and heavier, with middle toe and claw less than 40 mm.; general color grayer; throat white or whitish Great tinamou, Tinamus major, p. 6 Tarsus more slender with projecting upper margin of posterior scutes prom- inent but smooth; toes, including claws, longer, more slender, with middle toe and claw more than 45 mm. ; general color bright buffy brown, with throat brown (ochraceous tawny). Highland tinamou, Nothocercus honapartei, p. 14 TINAMUS MAJOR (Gmelin): Great Tinamou; Perdiz de Area Figure 2 Tetrao major Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 767. (Cayenne.) Size of a small domestic fowl, with heavy body, slender neck, and small head. Description.—Length 400 to 460 mm. Adult (sexes alike), above brownish olive to grayish olive, with narrow, irregular, black bars on back and wing ; crown sooty black to chestnut ; below grayish white to brownish white, barred heavily on the flanks, and narrowly and indis- tinctly elsewhere, with grayish black. Chicks, as they hatch, covered with soft down ; chestnut-brown on the body, darker above, paler below, and whitish on the abdomen; flanks barred with whitish ; rump and lower back barred with cream- buff ; crown paler brown, with a blackish-brown band, lighter in cen- ter, extending transversely from eye to eye ; a similarly colored band from the base of the bill back through the eye to the ear coverts ; sides of the head brownish beneath the eye, grayish above the ear region ; chin and throat grayish white. Juvenile wing quills begin to grow immediately, and the down is replaced quickly by a second plumage of firm feathers, in general appearance like those of the adult, but darker in color, barred less definitely above, but more heavily below, with the dorsal surface sparsely spotted with buff. An adult male {Tinamus m. saturatus, intermediate toward ftisci- pennis) shot near Mandinga, Comarca de San Bias, February 12, 1957, had the iris dark brown ; maxilla dusky neutral gray ; mandible FAMILY TINAMIDAE 7 fuscous, with tip light neutral gray; tarsus and toes neutral gray, except for the roughened scales on the back of the tarsus, which are mouse brown. The great tinamou, resident in heavily forested areas of the Fig. 2,—Great tinamou, perdiz de area, Tinamus major. The head shows the smooth crown of the subspecies of western Panama, Tropical and lower Subtropical Zones throughout the Isthmus, is much in favor as a game bird because of the meat, white with a slight greenish tint, of the heavy breast. This is delicious in flavor, excelling that of any other bird known to me when properly prepared. Tinamous have been much reduced in number over ex- tensive areas through destruction of their forest cover and through 8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 hunting, but some are still found in most extensive tracts of original forest, where they are able to maintain themselves through their secretive habits. In unsettled regions, especially in hill country, they are often common. Occasionally several may be found together, but it is more usual to encounter pairs or single birds. In thinly settled sections they are unsuspicious and, though they seek cover, are not difficult to see ; but when much hunted careful approach is necessary to obtain a glimpse of them, as at any alarm they slip quietly away through the ground cover, aided in concealment by the dim light and heavy shadows characteristic of their haunts. Occasionally one that becomes startled will fly, rising at a sharp angle with a roar of wings to 3 to 15 meters from the ground, and then drive swiftly away behind the protective screen of the leaves of the undergrowth and lower branches of the trees. The flight does not continue far, and when once more on the ground it is seldom that the bird will flush again. In areas where they have been little molested rarely one may alight on a large tree limb, but this is unusual. E. A. Goldman in a manuscript note records one such incident, and on one occasion I had one stop briefly on a horizontal tree trunk projecting from the side of a wide barranca. Where the jungle is sufficiently dry it is common to find their dusting places in open areas on the forest floor. The call note is a tremulous whistle, repeated several times, at first slowly and then, toward the end, more rapidly in slightly higher tone. Though heard in daytime, especially in early morning and late afternoon, their calls come also through the night, carrying to the human listener a feeling of the mystery that surrounds the nocturnal life of the darker hours. Occasionally a tinamou is en- countered in night hunting but though the birds may be seen the eyes are so small that it is sometimes difficult to detect their deep red reflection in the beam of the jack light. The accumulated data indicate a laying season in Panama that begins in January and extends to July. The available information covers a period of 40 years and comes mainly from the Pacific slope between Chiriqui and Darien and the Atlantic drainage at Barro Colorado Island. It indicates that the breeding period is initiated at the opening of the dry season and continues into the period of rains. It must vary in its period with individual groups of the birds, since so far as is known there is only one brood each season. The nests that I have seen have been placed against the base of a tree, living or dead, sheltered between the projecting flanges of FAMILY TINAMIDAE 9 buttressed roots. The location has been in heavy forest, with the site protected by undergrowth so that it is aside from the more open areas that would be traveled normally by predators. The nest sites invariably were carefully sheltered so that it has been chance that has brought them to my attention. Large dry leaves that have fallen be- tween the roots are molded to line a depression 250 mm. in diameter and about 75 mm. deep in the center. The parent sits close and flushes only at near approach, rising then directly from the nest. Native hunters say that it is always the male that incubates. On the two occasions on which I have shot incubating birds as they roared off on the wing they have been males. One killed two hours after sunrise had the cloaca and lower end of the intestine for a distance of 8 centimeters packed with a bolus of feces almost 2^ cm. in diameter, indicating that it had remained on the nest through the night. The normal clutch seems to be 6 or 7 eggs. The shell of the egg is smooth, with a porcelainlike sheen that reflects light, causing the blue-green color to appear more brilliant than it really is. In fresh eggs the yolk is colored dark orange. The chicks are active and leave the nest within a day or so after hatching. As their wings begin growth at once, the young are able to fly when no larger in body than a brown robin. Usually this species is known as the perdis de area, though in the eastern part of the Republic I have heard it called perdis de montana, and in Bocas del Toro a common name is mountain hen. As one explanation of the first of the names mentioned, I was told an attrac- tive tale of local folklore. According to this, when the Rainbow of Promise appeared in the sky following the Flood, the brilliant colors so frightened the perdis that it flew out in terror from the company of other birds in the Ark of Noah to shelter in the forest, where it has remained hidden ever since ! The species ranges from southeastern Mexico through Central America to western Ecuador, eastern Peru, northern Brazil, and French Guiana. Four subspecies are found in Panama. In each of these there are two color phases, one of which is grayer, and the other more rufescent, a fact that needs to be borne in mind in identifying specimens. In the measurements under subspecies, in this and in the other species of the family, tail length has been omitted since the coverts above and below are so intermingled with the rectrices that the correct dimension may not be determined satisfactorily. lO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. IS© TINAMUS MAJOR FTTSCIPENNIS Salvadori Tinamus fuscipennis Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol, 27, after Sept. 6, 1895, p. 500, (Escondido River, and San Rafael, Nicaragua= Rio Escondido, Nicaragua, restricted by Peters, Checkl. Birds World, vol. 1, 1931, p. 13.) Characters.—Crown sooty black, usually with a few very small spots or narrow bars of chestnut, particularly toward the nape; averaging darker on the dorsal surface than the other races found in Panama, Measurements.—Males (7 specimens from Costa Rica and Bocas del Toro), wing 222-244 (233.3), culmen from base 33.3-37.1 (34,9), tarsus 67.4-74.2 (70.0), middle toe with claw (5 specimens) 36.4-39.4 (37.6) mm. Females (8 specimens from Costa Rica and Bocas del Toro), wing 224-240 (233.9), culmen from base 32.0-40.0 (36,4), tarsus 71.0-75.8 (72.7), middle toe with claw (7 specimens) 36.0-42.4 (39.3) mm. Resident in the Tropical and lower Subtropical Zones. From the Province of Bocas del Toro (Changuinola, Almirante, Boquete Trail) eastward on the Caribbean slope across northern Veraguas and west- ern Colon, intergrading with T. m. saturatus in the valley of the Rio Indio in the Caribbean section of Code (El Uracillo) and in Colon. On the Caribbean slope it extends northward through Costa Rica to northern Nicaragua. It seems certain that birds of this race range into the lower Sub- tropical Zone in the mountains. There is one skin in the Museum of Comparative Zoology taken at about 600 meters on the Boquete trail back of Laguna de Chiriqui ; and another, a typical specimen, in the British Museum (Natural History), received from Enrique Arce, is labeled "Veraguas" without other information as to locality. It is probable that the latter was taken near the Continental Divide, presumably on the Caribbean side. Charles O. Handley, Jr., recorded a nest near Almirante, January 23, 1960, with 5 fresh eggs, and another February 13 in which in- cubation was well advanced. Huber (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil- adelphia, 1932, p 206) reported the dimension of 3 eggs found April 5, 1922, in northeastern Nicaragua, as follows: 59.2x46.4, 61 .7 X 48.8, and 63.2x49.7 mm. TINAMTJS MAJOR CASTANEICEPS Salvadori Tinamus castaneiceps Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. 27, after Sept. 6, 1895, p. 507, pi. 6. (Southern slope of the Volcan de Chiriquf, Panama.) FAMILY TINAMIDAE II Characters.—Crown chestnut to chestnut-brown; dorsal surface paler. Measurements.—Males (10 specimens from Costa Rica and Chiriqui), wing 219-232 (227.4), culmen from base 30.8-36.6 (34.4), tarsus 65.4-70.8 (67.7), middle toe with claw (8 specimens) 34,2-40.2 (37.5) mm. Females (8 specimens from Costa Rica and Chiriqui), wing 221- 240 (233), culmen from base 31.7-38.8 (35.6), tarsus 67.4-76.5 (71.3), middle toe with claw (6 specimens) 38.0-40.9 (39.4) mm. Resident. In forests on the Pacific slope from western Chiriqui through central Veraguas and western Province of Panama to the Canal Zone, extending into the lower part of the Subtropical Zone to 1,500 meters elevation in Chiriqui (Santa Clara, El Volcan). The extralimital range extends along the Pacific slope west to central Costa Rica (Puntarenas, Rio Pirrls). Intergradation with the subspecies T. m. saturatus begins near the original continental divide in the Canal Zone, as is shown by an adult male from Barro Colorado Island that has the feathers of the back of the crown very slightly elongated. Though this appears to be a hint of the nuchal crest that marks saturatus, the coloration is that of castaneiceps. Van Tyne (Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 1950, pp. 2-4) gives the following data from 2 nests, one of 4 and one of 6 eggs, found on Barro Colorado Island: Size, 56x45 mm. to 62x50 mm.; weight 56.0 to 81.4 grams. He described the color as beryl green. In examining other races of this tinamou from northern South America one is aware immediately of the close resemblance of castaneiceps to T. m. zuliensis, the form that is found from the lower Rio Sinu Valley in Colombia eastward through the Santa Marta region to eastern and southern Venezuela. The principal characters of difference that mark castaneiceps are the somewhat duller reddish brown of the crown, the more buffy, less reddish brown of the hindneck and the sides of the head, and the average darker coloration of the upper surface. In considering the evident close resemblance one has the definite impression that castaneiceps and suliensis of today represent the descendants of one stock found for- merly throughout the tropical lowland areas from Panama to Vene- zuela that has been divided by the intrusion of the much darker saturatus, an intrusion permitted through environmental change occasioned by the heavier annual rainfall found in the range of the darker form. 12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 TINAMUS MAJOR BRUNNEIVENTRIS Aldrich Tinamus major brunneiventris Aldrich, Scient. Publ. Cleveland Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 7, Aug. 31, 1937, p. 28. (Paracote, 1 mile south of mouth of Rjo Angulo, Veraguas, Panami.) Characters.—Generally similar to Tinamus m. castaneiceps, but darker above and below; sides of head and crown darker brown (darker than in T. m. saturatus) . Measurements.—Males (2 specimens), wing 214, 234, culmen from base 34.0, 34.2, tarsus 67.6, 70.2, middle toe with claw 37.5 mm. Female (1 specimen), wing 229, culmen from base 34.0, tarsus 69, middle toe with claw 37.1 mm. Resident. In forests of the Tropical Zone of southern Veraguas adjacent to Golfo de Montijo. Recorded to the lower Rio San Lorenzo (east of Bahia Honda), the western slope of the Azuero Peninsula at Altos Cacao (450 meters elevation, between the Rio Negro and Rio Mariato), and on the slopes of Cerro Montuosa and Cerro Hoya on the central divide. On Cerro Hoya Handley found it common through the forests to an elevation of 1,000 meters. Little is known of this race other than the few specimens that have been collected. TINAMUS MAJOR SATURATUS Griscom Figure 3 Tinamus major saturatus Griscom, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 69, April 1929, p. ISO. (Cana, 650 meters elevation, Darien.) Characters.—Differs from other races in Panama in having the feathers on the back of the head elongated to form a small crest; crown chestnut as in Tinamus m. castaneiceps, but dorsal surface darker, in this like T. m. fuscipennis. Measurements.—Males (14 specimens from Panama), wing 215- 238 (227), culmen from base 32.8-37.5 (35.3), tarsus 64.5-73.1 (69.3), middle toe with claw (6 specimens) 37.4-40.1 (38.6) mm. Females (12 specimens from Panama), wing 218-242 (230), culmen from base 33.0-38.5 (35.3), tarsus 66.5-73.3 (69.5), middle toe with claw (6 specimens) 38.1-40.2 (39.5) mm. Resident. In forest areas on the Pacific slope from the Cerro Azul, eastern Province of Panama, eastward through Darien ; and on the Caribbean side from Madden Lake through the San Bias; ranging upward in Darien into the Subtropical Zone (1,400 meters on Cerro Mali). Intergradation toward Tinamus major fuscipennis is evident in FAMILY TINAMIDAE 1 3 specimens from Cerro Azul, the Rio Pequeni (Salamanca Hydro- graphic Station), and Mandinga in the western San Bias. To the eastward this race extends into northwestern Colombia through Choco to northern Antioquia and Cordoba. On March 7, 1964, at Tacarcuna Village, Darien, when one of these tinamous flushed in dense undergrowth near the bank of the Rio Tacarcuna we found that it had come from a nest beside which rested two chicks a few hours old that proved to be male and female. The nest, the usual shallow depression molded in dried leaves accumulated between two buttressed roots at the base of a large Fig. 3.—Crested head of Tinamus major saturatus, the race of the great tinamou found from the Canal Zone through eastern Panama. tree, held the shells of the eggs from which the two had hatched, each divided in half near the center. In general pattern the down in the young birds was warm brown on the upper surface, across the breast, and on the sides, with the throat, foreneck, and abdomen grayish white. The side of the head was darker gray, barred nar- rowly with dull black. The lower back and rump were paler than the hindneck and upper back. One, which proved to be a male, is somewhat brighter colored, more reddish brown, with lower back and rump basally warm buff tipped with dull brown dotted faintly with dull black. The front half and sides of the crown are grayish white, barred narrowly and indistinctly with dull gray, with the forehead tinged with brown. A narrow black line borders the brown posterior part of the crown and hindneck, and a similar narrow 14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 black line leads back from the base of the bill to divide the gray anterior area in two portions. There is also a line of chestnut bordered narrowly above and below with black, that extends across the lores back beneath the eye through the auricular area. In the female chick the anterior crown area is slightly paler brown than the posterior section with only a faint, narrow median line. The brown lateral stripe is restricted on the loral region, and is reduced posteriorly to a brown spot back of the eye. The pattern of the markings in general outline is like that of the male but is only lightly indicated. The differences described need further check to determine whether they indicate two color phases that occur without regard to sex. A set of 6 eggs of this subspecies taken at the base of Cerro Chucanti in the Serrania de Maje, Province of Panama, March 10, 1950, measures 62.8x47.3, 62.7x48.2, 61.6x45.9, 60.0x48.4, 58.4x47.0, and 57.6x45.7 mm. Another set, also of 6 eggs, collected at Jaque, Darien, March 25, 1946, measures 60.3x46.5, 59,4x46.0, 59.0x45.9, 58.5x48.6, 56.8x45.0 and 56.0x43.6 mm. Color in the two sets varies from glaucous-blue to light glaucous-blue. The shells of two eggs from Tacarcuna Village, from which the young described above had hatched, were lumiere blue, a brighter color. On the Rio Cangandi, back of Mandinga, Charles O. Handley, Jr., recorded eggs near hatching May 17, 1959, and a day-old chick, May 21. He found a nest with 4 eggs at the Mandinga airstrip on May 28. Near Armila, San Bias, a male and a female taken February 24 and 25, 1963, were breeding. Lionel Wafer, surgeon and traveler, undoubtedly refers to this race of the great tinamou in his account of Darien (Isthmus of America, 1699, p. 115) when he writes, "There is also a Russet- colour'd Landbird shap'd not unlike a Partridge; but has a longer Neck and Legs, yet a short Tail. He runs most on the ground, and seldom flies. His flesh is very good meat." The Cuna Indians at Armila called these birds putu. NOTHOCERCUS BONAPARTEI FRANTZII (Lawrence): Highland Tinamou; Perdiz Serrana. Tinamits jrantzii Lawrence, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. New York, vol. 9, 1869, p. 140. (Cervantes, Costa Rica.) Size of a small domestic fowl; slightly smaller and definitely brighter brown than the great tinamou. Description.—Length 350 to 400 mm. Adult (sexes alike), crown FAMILY TINAMIDAE I5 and sides of head blackish; upper surface dark brown, with the feathers crossed by irregular black bars, so narrow that the two colors blend to produce an olive appearance; wings and lower back more or less spotted with buff; undersurface from the throat to the abdomen cinnamon-buff, with the throat plain, and the rest sparsely barred with narrow lines of black ; sides and under tail coverts olive brown, barred with black ; abdomen buff, barred with black. The finer black barring above and the cinnamon-brown throat, with smaller size, smoother posterior surface of the tarsus, and longer middle toe and claw, separate this bird from the great tinamou. A recently hatched chick in the Museum of Comparative Zoology from Costa Rica (no. 55339) has the crown and hindneck dull black, with partly concealed barring of dull white ; rest of dorsal surface mingled rufous and black; sides of head dull black, spotted with white ; throat whitish, spotted indistinctly with neutral gray ; under surface cinnamon-buff, with foreneck darker and mingled with black. The coloration as a whole is decidedly darker than that of the chick of Tinamus major. Jose Zeledon on the label of a specimen in the U. S. National Museum noted the following colors of the soft parts in a breeding female tal