302 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 



quality may be heard especially toward sunset from birds resting 

 on open perches high above the ground. An approaching storm, with 

 the mutter of thunder, may excite them to this response. Where 

 two or three join they produce a ringing jungle melody most pleasing 

 to the ear. 



Their meat has been frequent camp fare in remote areas, partic- 

 ularly when supplies were low. It is rather dark, and tough unless 

 cooked for some time, and is best when broiled, or cut up and cooked 

 again with rice. Fully grown, these birds are heavy-bodied and of 

 good flavor. 



In spite of their extensive range little is known of their breeding. 

 In mating males display among open branches where they fly slowly, 

 but with rapidly beating wings that produce a loud rattling, drum- 

 ming sound. They are said to build platforms of sticks in trees well 

 above the ground as is usual among their relatives. The only egg 

 that I have seen is one from the closely related northern race, taken 

 by E. W. Nelson and E. A. Goldman from the oviduct of a female 

 shot on Cerro Tancitaro, Michoacan, on March 2, 1903. This is 

 fully formed and has the dull white to faintly creamy white color 

 and the roughened, finely pitted shell common in species of its 

 family. It is between subelliptical and oval and measures 77.0 X 56.0 

 mm. Leopold (WildHfe of Mexico, 1959, p. 208), in his account of 

 this northern subspecies, gives Helmuth Wagner as authority for the 

 statement that 2 eggs constitute the normal set and that "these are 

 dull white and measure approximately 75 by 51 mm." Schonwetter 

 (Handb. Ool., pt. 4, 1961, p. 204) gives the measurements of 3 eggs 

 of the race aequatorialis as 70-72x48.3-50 mm. The nesting season 

 of the race found in Panama seems to be similar to that of the pavon, 

 as I have taken nearly grown immature birds in February and 

 March. 



The present subspecies, marked by chestnut-brown rump, upper 

 and under tail coverts, and lower abdomen, ranges from Nicaragua 

 and Costa Rica through Panama and western Colombia to western 

 Ecuador. An allied race, P. p. brunnescens, which is more brownish 

 on the back and wings, with a less greenish sheen on the crown and 

 upper back, is found from the Santa Marta region in Colombia to 

 the Maracaibo Basin in Venezuela. In the typical race, Penelope p. 

 purpurascens, distributed from southern Mexico to Honduras, the 

 rump, upper and under tail coverts, and lower abdomen are dull 

 dark brown, much darker and blacker than in the subspecies found 

 in Panama. 



