FAMILY FURNARIIDAE 63 



Measurements. — Males (14 from Bocas del Toro and Chiriqui), 

 wing 55.0-59.8 (56.5), tail 65.0-75.8 (72.6), culmen from base 

 14.5-16.8 (15.6), tarsus 20.4-21.9 (21.1) mm. 



Females (10 from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Bocas del Toro), 

 wing 52.2-56.4 (54.6), tail 64.0-72.9 (69.3), culmen from base 

 14.5-16.6 (15.5), tarsus 20.0-21.7 (21.1) mm. 



Resident. Found locally in the Tropical and lower Subtropical 

 zones on the Pacific slope from the Costa Rican boundary in western 

 Chiriqui (Concepcion, 450 meters elevation, Santa Clara, El Volcan 

 at 1350 meters) ; and on the Caribbean side in western Bocas del 

 Toro (Almirante, Cocoplum, Rio Changuena at 725 meters, Chan- 

 guinola, Cricamola) ; and northern Veraguas (Rio Calovevora). 



Two specimens collected in Chiriqui by Arce (without other data), 

 one in the British Museum and one in the U.S. National Museum, are 

 early reports from this area. Mrs. Davidson (Proc. California 

 Acad. Sci., 1938, p. 258) secured male and female at Concepcion, 

 December 7 and 12, 1929. Worth (Auk, 1939, p. 307) mentioned 

 an unoccupied nest seen at 1220 meters on the Rio Gariche below 

 El Volcan. In the course of my own field studies I have found 

 this spinetail fairly common from El Volcan west toward Costa Rica, 

 ranging to 1350 meters. Lower, near Buena Vista from 600 to 700 

 meters, it was common, but though I heard it calling daily it was seen 

 only through careful watching, as it remained hidden in dense thickets 

 or stands of bracken. 



Two eggs in a set in the U.S. National Museum, collected by 

 Austin Smith at Puerto Jimenez on Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica, July 

 18, 1922, are somewhat pointed, short subelliptical in form, and 

 are dull white. They measure 21.2x16.5, and 21.5x16.5 mm. A 

 nest painted by Don Eckelberry (Condor, 1960, opposite p. 413), 

 from one seen in Costa Rica, was made of coarse sticks, with a small 

 opening leading to the inside, placed in a thorny shrub. A photo by 

 Skutch (Nature Mag., vol. 10, 1947, p. 70) shows a similar globular 

 structure, with entrance through a tunnel at one side. 



In January and February 1958, these birds were common around 

 Bahia Almirante and near Changuinola, recorded mainly, as usual, 

 from their constant churring chatter. Occasionally one came through 

 shrubbery and vines covering a fence beside our house near the water 

 in the town of Almirante. One was observed carrying sticks for a 

 nest on January 23. Males collected in February and early March 



