FAMILY FURNARIIDAE T] 



PREMNOPLEX BRUNNESCENS BRUNNEICAUDA (Lawrence) 



Margarornis brunneicauda Lawrence, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. New York, vol. 8, 

 May 1865, p. 130 (in text). (Costa Rica.) 



Premnoplex brnnnescens distincttis Griscom, Amer. Mus. Nov., no. 280, Sep- 

 tember 10, 1927, p. 5. (Chitra, 4000 feet, Veraguas, Panama.) 



Premnoplex brunnescens mnionophilus Wetmore, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 

 117, no. 2, September 25, 1951, p. 6. (Cerro Campana, Province of Panama, 

 Panama. ) 



Characters. — Somewhat lighter, faintly less reddish brown above, 

 including the crown. 



On the specimen label of a male in the British Museum (Natural 

 History), taken at Cachi, above the Rio Reventazon, Costa Rica, 

 the collector, C. J. Lankester, noted the iris as dull brown; bill black; 

 feet fleshy horn. 



Measurements. — Males (18 from Chiriqui, Bocas del Toro, 

 Veraguas, and western Province of Panama), wing 60.5-67.4 (63.1), 

 tail 55.1-69.5 (60.3), culmen from base 14.6-16.4 (15.7), tarsus 

 18.9-20.0 (19.4, average of 17) mm. 



Females (17 from Chiriqui, Veraguas and western Province of 

 Panama), wing 60.0-63.0 (61.5), tail 51.4-61.8 (57.8), culmen from 

 base 15.4-16.8 (16.0), tarsus 18.5-19.7 (19.3) mm. 



Resident. Found in mountain forests, from western Chiriqui 

 (1200 to 2150 meters) east to the end of the mountain chain on 

 Cerro Campana (900 meters) ; reported on the Caribbean side on the 

 upper Rio Changuena (730 meters), Bocas del Toro, and Calovevora, 

 northern Veraguas. 



I have seen these birds mainly in cloud forest or in dense, more 

 humid stands elsewhere, usually where branches and trunks were 

 grown with moss and epiphytes. While these are usual haunts the 

 birds are found also in more open stands, even occasionally in second 

 growth. In the higher levels three or four may move about with the 

 mixed bands of small birds frequent in tropical woodlands. Always 

 the barbtails are quiet and inconspicuous, not seeming especially 

 timid, but usually difficult to follow because of rough terrain. The 

 call is a low chipping note. In the trees they work along the smaller 

 branches, searching mouselike through growths of mosses and large 

 epiphytes, or they climb the vertical trunks, moving easily, aided by 

 the tail braced against the bark. In this the projecting tips of the 

 vanes, while flexible, are stiff enough to afford firm support. They 

 seem to range mainly over the lower branches rarely going into the 

 high tree crown. They may be caught occasionally in mist nets 

 near the ground. 



