2l8 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 3 



1951 and 1953 at El Valle, on the Pacific slope in Code, and in 1952 

 it was taken at El Uracillo on the Caribbean slope in that province. 

 Also in 1952, we found it near Chilar, on the Rio Indio, in western 

 Colon. These are the most western authentic records that are known 

 to me. From the Canal Zone eastward these birds are fairly common. 



Like others of the genus they are birds of the forest floor that 

 walk through the shadows with long stride, the neck extended, and 

 the short twitching tail held at an angle above the back, so that in 

 appearance they suggest small rails. Males may come quietly to peer 

 at human intruders, but more usually their presence is known from 

 their whistled calls, one clear note, followed after a slight pause by 

 two or three others, repeated more rapidly. Occasionally the whistle 

 is varied by chattering, scolding notes. The call, easily imitated, brings 

 immediate response so that presently the bird may approach and be 

 seen. The clicking of a metal cartridge on a gun barrel or machete 

 blade may also arouse their curiosity. Often, however, they remain 

 well concealed. When suddenly startled they fly readily, and then may 

 rise a meter or so above the ground. This, however, is unusual. In 

 the hand, they are heavy bodied and full-feathered. 



It is common to see them walking at the border of ant swarms. 

 On Barro Colorado Island, R. A. Johnson (Proc. Linn. Soc. New 

 York, nos. 63-65, March 1954, pp. 48, 57) found them at ant columns 

 when these crossed any ant-thrush territory but not following when 

 the insects had moved outside this limit. Stomachs that I have ex- 

 amined have held remains of ants, and of a variety of small beetles 

 and beetle larvae, hymenoptera, caterpillars, earwigs, millipedes, 

 spiders, and small lizard bones, as well as seeds of Oxalis, Rubiaceae, 

 and miscellaneous vegetable fibers. 



Though widely distributed, little in detail is known of the nesting 

 of these birds. Cherrie (Sci. Bull. Brooklyn Inst. Arts. Sci., vol. 1, 

 no. 13, 1908, p. 366) concerning the race F. a. saturatus on Trinidad 

 noted that "this species nests in holes in trees." 



Belcher and Smooker (Ibis, 1936, p. 811) on Trinidad report 

 "what is believed to have been a nest of this species on the Heights 

 of Arima (Morne Bleu) on 26 March, 1928. It was a cup of root- 

 fibres and leaf-stems placed in a hole in a tree-stump at about 3 meters 

 from the ground. The two eggs were slightly incubated : They are 

 pure white, smooth-shelled, regular ovals, and measure 28.4x21.9 

 and 26.8x21.2 mm." (The eggs recorded here are smaller than those 

 described by Mees listed below.) That this species nests in holes was 

 proved by a photograph by Howard H. Cleaves (Wilson Bull., vol. 



