FAMILY TINAMIDAE IQ 



gray. A male shot at the same time had the tarsal colors duller, 

 more olive green. 



The perdiz de rastrojo is the most common species of the family 

 and is resident throughout the isthmus from sea level to 1,500 meters 

 elevation. It lives in thickets, in low vegetation, and in the second 

 growth — the rastrojo — of abandoned plantations, and along the 

 borders of cultivated fields. Where extensive stands of tall forest 

 still remain it ranges mainly near the banks of streams. 



Like the other species of its family it is extremely shy and is 

 seen with difficulty in the dense growths of grass, weeds and brush 

 that it frequents, its concealment being aided by its small size. 

 It has been able to maintain itself in many rather densely popu- 

 lated areas in spite of constant hunting, as it is adaptable in shifting 

 about when clearing for cultivation encroaches on parts of its habitat. 

 On many occasions in small villages I have awakened at night to 

 hear its call where it seemed hardly possible that the birds could 

 exist amid the abundance of dogs, active small boys, and other 

 potential enemies. Often I have heard them in daytime very near at 

 hand, when even the sharp-eyed country boys with me could not 

 see them. I recall in particular one Choco Indian house in Darien 

 — the usual elevated platform with open sides — where a pair of these 

 tinamous came ddly into the matted ground vegetation of the small 

 surrounding plantation. Often they called not more than 12 meters 

 away, but we never had a glimpse of them during a three weeks' 

 stay, though we were certain that they were watching us from the 

 depths of their cover. Rarely one may detect a slight movement 

 as the bird retreats to a more secure location, and still more rarely 

 is one seen walking quietly, or running. In early morning I have 

 come on them in the open at the edge of fields or pastures when 

 they often rise in rapid flight to disappear immediately in nearby 

 cover. The call is a tremulous, whistled note, repeated several times 

 in an insistent tone, with ascending cadence, gaining in strength 

 and rapidity with each repetition, and then falling rather quickly 

 into silence. It is common for others to answer. They call through- 

 out the day, and their regular nocturnal whistling indicates activity 

 at night, though I have never observed one during night-hunting 

 expeditions. 



Nesting seems to be irregular throughout the year. I have taken 

 females with ovaries in breeding condition from February through 

 May, and have records from literature of young hatching the mid- 

 dle of July, and a nest with eggs on August 4. Two eggs constitute 



