3IO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 



Measurements. — Males (9, including one from Acandi, Choco), 

 wing 198-225 (213), tail 221-253 (241), oilmen from base 25.6-29.8 

 (27.8), tarsus 64.9-74.5 (70.1, average of 8) mm. 



Females (7, including one from Acandi, Choco), wing 193-207 

 (201), tail 217-244 (226), culmen from base 23.1-28.6 (26.2), tarsus 

 64.4-68.2 (65.6) mm. 



Resident. Fairly common in the tropical lowlands of the Caribbean 

 slope, from near central Bocas del Toro through western Colon (Rio 

 Indio), and the lowlands of extreme northern Code (El Uracillo) to 

 the Colombian boundary. At the Cerro Azul this race ranges across to 

 the Pacific slope in the lowlands near Chepo, and continues eastward 

 to the Rio Maje, formerly at least along the Rio Chucunaque (mouth 

 of Rio Tuquesa, specimen 1924), and the Golfo San Miguel (Laguna 

 de Pita, specimen 1895). 



Possibly hunting by Indians has reduced or eliminated the faisana 

 in parts of Darien, as I did not find it on the Chucunaque-Tuira 

 drainage in 1959. There were none in the region of the Rio Jaque in 

 1946 and 1947, and none have been reported from the Cerro Pirre 

 area. 



In the Canal Zone faisaitas are fairly common on Barro Colorado 

 Island, mainly near the lake shore, and are found in sheltered localities 

 elsewhere from the lower Chagres Valley to the headwaters of that 

 stream. At Juan Mina, where the divide is low, the population seems 

 nearer cinereiceps. At Mandinga in the San Bias I found them com- 

 mon through tracts of rastrojo. 



A female taken on the Rio Chiman on February 20, 1950, was 

 nearly ready to lay. 



Family PHASIANIDAE : Quails, Pheasants, and Peacocks ; 

 Codornices, Faisanes, y Pavos Reales 



This family of many species, found under natural conditions 

 throughout temperate and tropical regions, is best known through the 

 domestic fowl, the most valuable bird in a commercial sense in the 

 world. In Panama the Phasianidae are represented by five handsome 

 species of the group of quails, four of these, the wood quails, forest 

 inhabitants, and the fifth found in low coverts near the savanna 

 lands of the Pacific slope in the western part of the Republic. Only 

 three are sufficiently common to be considered game birds, and these 

 are present in limited numbers that cannot survive any extensive 

 hunting. 



