62 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 3 



Description. — Length 145-160 mm. Adult (sexes alike), fore- 

 head, side of head, and back oHve to brownish gray ; crown, nape, 

 and wings cinnamon-rufous or reddish chestnut, with the tips of 

 flight feathers oHve-brown ; upper tail coverts more brownish gray ; 

 tail oHve to grayish oHve, with the shafts black; under surface mouse 

 gray to slate, paler on the abdomen and darker on the breast ; upper 

 throat streaked narrowly with white ; under wing coverts ochraceous- 

 buff, with the inner webs of the flight feathers cinnamon. 



Immature, entire upper surface olive-brown ; wings rufescent 

 brown, duller than in adults, with the tips sooty black, edged lightly 

 with dull brown ; tail sooty black ; upper throat grayish white ; rest 

 of under surface grayish olive, grayer on the abdomen ; under sur- 

 face of wing as in the adult. 



The iris in the adult bird is bright reddish brown. 



Though similar in form to the related Pale-breasted Spinetail, this 

 species differs decidedly in darker coloration, call notes, and the 

 haunts that it frequents. In highland areas I have found them most 

 often in the growths of bracken, common at forest borders, and in 

 dense stands in pastures. Lower down they are seen usually in 

 thickets at forest edge, and along the border of swampy areas. While 

 they may range up to a meter or two, when approached they drop 

 down to near ground level, sometimes so rapidly that they appear 

 to tumble. There they move so quietly under cover that it may be 

 several minutes before they are seen. Often also they rest on some 

 hidden perch. The rattling, churring calls given rapidly may suggest 

 the notes of a wren. Another call is a higher pitched double note. 



In handling them I have noticed that they have a pungent, musky 

 odor. Occasionally this is so strong that I have detected it from birds 

 moving through leaves nearby. 



The species is found from southeastern Honduras through Cen- 

 tral America and Colombia to Ecuador, with one apparently isolated 

 form described from Goias, east-central Brazil. Two subspecies 

 occur in Panama. 



SYNALLAXIS BRACHYURA NIGRIFUMOSA Lawrence 



Synallaxis nigrifumosa Lawrence, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. New York, vol. 8, 1865, 

 p. 180. (Greytown, Nicaragua.) 



Characters. — Darker in color throughout ; back darker brown, 

 under surface decidedly darker, and the rufous color of crown and 

 wings darker. 



