CULTUKE OF PEOPLE OF SOUTHEASTERN PANAMA 11 



the yellow-tailed cacique, a species of the family Icteridae. Other 

 birds found are varieties of eagles, kites, toucans, trogons, parrots, 

 macaws, parakeets, flamingos, white egrets, herons, and others. 



Among the birds that frequent mountains and uplands in western 

 Panama is the quetzal or resplendent trogon, the sacred bird of 

 the Aztecs. The upper covert feathers of the tail are sometimes a 

 yard long; it has a recurved crest and fern-like wing covers of a 

 metallic emerald green, with breast feathers of a vivid scarlet. 



During the winter months man} 7 of our common North American 

 birds arrive as migrants and pass the winter season in a tropical 

 environment. 



Insect life is found in a multitude of varied forms and species. 

 Conical white ants' nests 10 to 15 feet high dot the plains. Forag- 

 ing ants may be seen on their journeys marching in single file, each 

 ant carrying bits of flower or a leaf. Cockroaches, red bugs, ticks 

 (garrapatas), jiggers {Pulex penetrans), sand flies, screw worms, 

 all contribute wholly or in part to the prevalence of such diseases as 

 ground or " spigotty " itch, foot rot, and other skin troubles, while 

 mosquitoes, often a pest in themselves, may carry other diseases. 



The jungle fauna includes such species as armadillo, sloth, species 

 of agouti, varieties of monkey, such as the red and black howler, 

 spider monkeys, white-faced, and owl or night monkeys, marmosets, 

 giant lizard or iguana, jaguar, cougar, giant anteater {Myrme- 

 eophaga), Baird's tapir, a small and a large species of peccary or 

 jabali, coati, kinkajou, or honey-bear, small ant-eating bear, and a 

 large number of other species occupying a much wider range, such 

 as snakes of the pit viper variety, the otter; and some smaller 

 mammals. 



Like the numerous varieties and species of animal life, great in 

 its diversity, but preponderantly South American, plant life in 

 southeastern Panama has its distinctive characteristics. According 

 to Pittier, CavaniUesia platamfolia, or cuipo tree, once a part 

 of a huge and dense forest, now stands the isolated remnant of a 

 primeval forest that at one time extended northward beyond the 

 Isthmus. Its trunk is huge and straight, its crown insignificant and 

 flat. The wood, as light as cork, is spongy and much affected by 

 termite tunnels. It is found here at the extreme northwestern areal 

 limit of the species which extends eastward in Colombia, along the 

 reaches of the Magdalena River and southward as far as Peru. A 

 wood similar in texture, much used by the natives for carvings and 

 in their wood sculpture, is that of the Panama species of balsa or 

 corkwood (0 chroma limonvnsis) . 



Nowhere in southeastern Panama is there a Transition Zone such 

 as occurs in the flora of the upper mountains of the Province of 

 77826—26—2 



