FAMILY COTINGIDAE 2^1 



An adult male, taken below Almirante, Bocas del Toro, February 

 15, 1958, bad the iris dark bazel brown; culmen dusky neutral gray; 

 rest of bill pale neutral gray ; tarsus and toes fuscous, witb the pads on 

 the under surface of the toes dull brown ; claws black. 



Measureuicnts. — Males (10 from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Bocas del 

 Toro), wing 134.5-145.3 (139.0), tail 62.2-70.0 (64.4), culmen from 

 base 19.5-21.4 (20.3), tarsus 24.5-26.5 (25.6) mm. 



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

 129.0-143.5 (133.1), tail 59.2-69.2 (63.1), culmen from base 19.2- 

 20.9 (20.1), tarsus 23.0-26.5 (24.6) mm. 



Resident. Uncommon near Almirante, Bocas del Toro. 



This cotinga was first recorded from Panama by F. H. Kennard, 

 who collected a female on the Rio Occidente, below Almirante, March 

 20, 1926. Kennard (in Kennard and Peters, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. 

 Hist., vol. 38, 1928, p. 458) wrote that it "was uncommon on the 

 Western River near Almirante, where it was found only in the tops of 

 very tall trees, and it was seen also along the Boquete Trail at 

 about 1000 feet." Following this, Wedel collected a series of six 

 males, three females, and another with sex not marked, near Al- 

 mirante in May and August 1927, and August 1928 (Peters, Bull. 

 Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 71, 1931, p. 329). Griscom (Amer. Mus. 

 Nov., no. 293, 1928, p. 1) also recorded it from collections made 

 by R. R. Benson near Almirante in the summer of 1927. 



In 1958, on the early morning of February 14, I saw a male in a 

 dead tree top near the mouth of Quebrada Pastores south of Al- 

 mirante, but it flew as I walked toward it and disappeared. The 

 following morning in forest on the lower Rio Occidente, when three 

 of these cotingas came to a tall tree, I shot a beautiful adult male. 

 Because of the short legs the birds rest with the feathers of the ab- 

 domen against the perch, and the body tilted slightly forward. The 

 shape of the head, with the feathers of the forecrown pufifed, gives 

 them a pigeon-like appearance, so that my Panamanian helper thought 

 that the bird taken was a dove. The plumage was dense, with abun- 

 dant white down slightly greasy like powder down on my fingers. 

 A few days later I saw another male at this point, sitting alertly 

 erect with the neck elongated. It flew as we beached our canoe. 



In Costa Rica, according to Slud (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 

 vol. 128, 1964, p. 226) this species "is known from a few localities 

 grouped along the eastern edge of the central highlands. It inhabits 

 virgin forest, especially in broken, hilly terrain, and troops about 

 in groups through or above the canopy. ... It regularly visits clear- 



