72 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 3 



head and ramal area dusky, lined more or less with white behind the 

 eye ; throat and upper f oreneck white ; rest of under surface dull 

 reddish olive-brown, marked throughout by elongated spots of white 

 or very pale yellow, each bordered narrowly with black ; proximal 

 half of under wing coverts dusky ; distal half and edge of wing 

 dull white, mixed slightly with dusky. 



A female, taken on Cerro Mali, Darien, February 27, 1964, had 

 the iris dark mouse brown ; maxilla, except the cutting edge, fuscous- 

 brown ; edge of maxilla and mandible pinkish neutral gray, paler and 

 more reddish on mandibular rami ; tarsus dark brown, with the toes 

 and claws somewhat grayer. 



Measurements. — Males (5 from Darien), wing 71.6-77.8 (74.7), 

 tail 65.1-71.0 (67.7), culmen from base 14.6-15.7 (15.0), tarsus 

 19.6-21.2 (20.1, average of 4) mm. 



Females (3 from Darien), wing 73.1-74.9 (73.8), tail 66.5-69.0 

 (67.6), culmen from base 15.2-16.0 (15.7), tarsus 19.1-20.5 

 (19.7) mm. 



Resident. Rare on the higher levels of Cerro Pirre and Cerro 

 Mali, Darien. 



The four males and two females from which this little-known 

 bird was described were collected by E. A. Goldman on April 23 

 and May 1, 1912, at elevations of 1370 to 1580 meters near the head 

 of Rio Limon, on Cerro Pirre. A brief note by the collector on May 1 

 records that three were together in the top of a very tall tree, 

 and that another was taken on a tree trunk. 



On Tune 5, 1963. Dr. Pedro Galindo collected a male at 1460 meters, 

 on Cerro Mali, near where that ridge joms the mam mass of Cerro 

 Tacarcuna. On February 27, 1964, I caught a female near our camp 

 in a mist net set on this same ridge, at an elevation 30 meters lower. 

 The stomach of this individual (which was not in breeding stage) 

 was filled with finely ground remains of small insects. 



Examination of the series of eight, now in the U.S. National 

 Museum, verifies the observations of Dr. Nelson in the original de- 

 scription, of the close resemblance of helhilits to Margarornis 

 squamiger perlatus of the higher levels of the Andes in Colombia. 

 The differences seen in the bird of Darien in duller reddish brown 

 above, and in reduction in number and size of the light spots on the 

 lower surface, are definite in comparison with the series of more than 

 50 perlatus now available. These include representation from the 

 northern area of the Cordillera Occidental in Colombia, where the 

 two populations have their nearest approach. The duller coloration 



