114 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 



head rufous-brown, like the stripe over the eye and along the side 

 of the crown. 



Measurements. — Males (2 from Panama), wing 106.5, 109.0, 

 tail 39.6, 41.9, culmen from base 43.2, 42.9, tarsus 39.0, 41.8 mm. 



Females (2 from Panama), wing 109.8, 114.4, tail 36.4, 42.9, 

 culmen from base 42.8, 44.8, tarsus 41.5, 44.7 mm. 



These figures indicate that the size agrees with that of the typical 

 race /. e. exilis. 



A male taken on January 13, 1961, had the following colors : Inner 

 edge of iris bright yellow, outer ring reddish orange ; base of culmen 

 wood brown, changing at level of nostrils to dusky neutral gray; 

 cutting edges of maxilla and mandible honey yellow ; loral area 

 honey yellow, with a line of buffy yellow above and below; space 

 around eye honey yellow ; crus, tarsus and toes honey yellow, tinged 

 with neutral gray on the front of the tibio-tarsal joint and of the 

 tarsus ; claws wood brown tipped with dark neutral gray. 



Resident. Recorded only in fresh-water marshes, along the lower 

 Chagres. 



The few records are as follows : A female in the Salvin-Godman 

 collection in the British Museum, sent by McLeannan from Lion 

 Hill, Canal Zone; another, a male, in the American Museum of 

 Natural History, marked 1863, from the same source, but without 

 more detailed data, a bird in first fall plumage, with the back feathers 

 margined lightly with rufous. In addition to these I have collected 

 two in the marshes bordering the Rio Chagres near Juan Mina, a 

 female on January 10, and a male on January 13, both in 1961. 



Least bitterns are fairly common between Gamboa and Juan Mina 

 but remain closely under cover and so are seldom seen. In January 

 as the breeding season approaches they begin to call, a low, drawling 

 kwuh-h-h-h, repeated at brief intervals, given while the birds remain 

 concealed in the marsh growth. In early morning, and more regu- 

 larly in late afternoon, they move about to feed, and then may fly 

 a few meters low down in the open, but immediately drop into cover. 

 I have had one call at dusk within 10 meters and still not be able 

 to see it. One that I shot had a small fish in the stomach, and this 

 appears to be their principal food. 



Family COCHLEARIIDAE : Boat-billed Heron; Garzota Cuchara 



The single species of this family ranges in the Tropical Zone low- 

 lands from northern Mexico (Sinaloa on the west, Tamaulipas on the 

 east) south through Central America to northern Argentina. Two 



