14 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 3 



DECONYCHURA LONGICAUDA TYPICA Cherrie 



Deconychura typica Cherrie, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. 14, September 4, 1891, 

 p. 339. (Pozo Azul de Pirris, Province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica.) 



Characters. — Slightly more rufescent on dorsal surface. 



On the label of the type specimen the collector, Jose C. Zeledon, 

 noted the iris as dark brown ; maxilla black ; mandible, tarsus, and 

 feet "plumbeous." 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Chiriqui and Costa Rica), wing 

 92.5-99.9 (96.8). tail 90.0-100.6 (94.8), culmen from base 23.4- 

 25.2 (24.2, average of 9), tarsus 21.7-22.8 (22.1) mm. 



Females (10 from Chiriqui, Veraguas, Bocas del Toro, and Costa 

 Rica), wing 84.2-89.5 (86.6), tail 80.1-88.0 (84.2), culmen from 

 base 21.5-23.5 (22.3), tarsus 19.5-21.8 (20.6) mm. 



Resident. Rare in lowland forests. Recorded on the Pacific slope 

 in western Chiriqui (Divala, Bugaba) ; on the Caribbean side in 

 Bocas del Toro (Almirante) and northern Veraguas (Rio Calo- 

 vevora). 



The Long-tailed Woodcreeper was first recorded in the Republic at 

 Divala, Chiriqui, when W. W. Brown, Jr., collected an adult male and 

 a young female in December 1900 (Bangs, Auk, 1901, p. 367). An- 

 other, now in the American Museum of Natural History, was taken 

 by H. J. Watson at Bugaba, May 11, 1903. R. R. Benson collected 

 one at Almirante, Bocas del Toro, June 28, 1927, and Benson and 

 Gaffney one on the Rio Calovevora, northern Veraguas, September 

 18, 1926. 



In Costa Rica, where it seems to be somewhat more common, Slud 

 (Bull. Amer. Mus. no. 128, 1964, pp. 196-197) heard it giving a low 

 chipping call, a repetition of a single note. He also observed it "anting 

 with some small insect too stout-bodied to be an ant." George K. 

 Cherrie (Anal. Inst. Fisico-Geografico Nac. Costa Rica, vol. 6, 1893 

 (1895), p. 72) described a nest found at Pozo Pital on the Rio 

 Naranjo, Costa Rica, located in a dead tree trunk about 9 meters from 

 the ground. The nest was placed in a cavity that opened at the top of 

 the stub, and was a little less than a meter deep. The bottom was 

 lined thickly with dry leaves. The female, flushed from the nest, on 

 her return carried a dead leaf to add to the nest material. She was 

 collected and is now in the U.S. National Museum. The two eggs 

 were described as glossy white (like the eggs of woodpeckers.) One 

 was broken as Cherrie descended the tree (due apparently to the 

 attack of biting ants housed in the base of the stub). The other 

 measured 21.8 X 17 mm. 



