I08 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 3 



secondaries tipped broadly, and primaries edged at end, with cinna- 

 mon-rufous; central and three outer tail feathers cinnamon-rufous, 

 the others partly or wholly black ; a narrow streak from above the eye 

 along side of crown dull white or bufif ; lores grayish mixed with 

 dull black ; side of head like crown, with narrow shaft lines of huffy 

 white, bordered below by a narrow band of clear white, slightly 

 elongated feathers ; chin and throat dull buffy white ; rest of under 

 surface dull grayish brown, with edgings of dull buffy white on fore- 

 neck and upper breast producing faint lines ; under tail coverts and 

 flanks faintly reddish brown ; edge of wing and under wing coverts 

 ochraceous-buff. This species, plainer in markings than the Streaked 

 Xenops, ranges from southern Mexico through Central America and 

 in South America from Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia, Para- 

 guay, and southeastern Brazil. Two slightly different forms are found 

 in Panama. 



These interesting small birds are true climbers that move actively 

 about, clinging with their strong feet, and often hanging back down. 

 The long ropelike strands of pendant creepers are favored hunting 

 ground, and on these the birds work up and down in a manner 

 strongly suggestive of the nuthatches of the north. Often they climb 

 along the under side of branches, always with the tail swinging free. 

 Loose bits of bark are pried off with the bill, and they hammer twigs 

 and creepers exactly like the piculets of similar size of the wood- 

 pecker family. 



Two often range in company, sometimes a pair, sometimes an adult 

 with one grown young. Though often alone, they also join company 

 with bands of other small species as these forage through the leaves. 

 The usual call is a soft chipping note that may be uttered rapidly so 

 that it becomes a low trilling sound. 



In Panama birds are in breeding condition from January through 

 March. One male fully grown but in immature dress was taken 

 in company with an adult male near El Volcan, Chiriqui, March 4, 

 1954. 



Those that I have examined have eaten only animal food — small 

 insects and spiders. A more or less typical stomach of one taken by 

 E. A. Goldman at Portobelo, in May 1911, was filled mainly with 

 fragments of earwigs and ants. 



XENOPS MINUTUS RIDGWAYI Hartert and Goodson 



Xenops gcnibarbis ridgzvayi Hartert and Goodson, Nov. Zool., vol. 24, August 

 31, 1917, p. 417. ("Tocoume" = Tocumen, eastern Province of Panama, 

 Panama.) 



