536 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA — PART 3 



earlier studies on Barro Colorado Island, in recent years there have 

 been numerous reports of it by E. O. Willis and others, including a 

 nest found by Willis in late April 1961. Ridgely recorded it July 5, 

 1969, back of Gamboa, and in company with N. G. Smith, at Cerro 

 Santa Rita, Colon, near the Canal Zone boundary. A female was 

 collected by J. A. Griswold, Jr., at the old Salamanca Hydrographic 

 Station, on what is now the northern end of Madden Lake, on March 

 31, 1936. In Darien, I recorded it at several localities, as noted be- 

 yond. In eastern San Bias it has been found at Perme and Puerto 

 Obaldia. 



On March 21, 1946, in dense jungle at the base of Loma Gonzalez, 

 immediately to the south of Jaque, on the coast of Darien, I saw 

 some small creature, that I thought was a large insect, fly into a clump 

 of moss, a rounded mass that seemed out of place in its location. At 

 a pull on a vine one of these tiny birds flew out of what proved to be 

 its nest, to perch a few meters away. The nest swung at the tip of a 

 slender branch in a thorny tree between 3 and 4 meters from the 

 ground. The location was such that the nest could not be reached, 

 so finally I shot ofif the twig that supported it. Unfortunately, it over- 

 turned as it dropped, so that the two eggs fell out and were broken. 

 The shells were rather dull white, spotted throughout with cinnamon. 

 They were fresh. The nest was approximately 150 millimeters long 

 by 90 wide, with the exterior made of green moss. Halfway down 

 one side a small, rounded opening led into a covered cup of fine, dry, 

 yellow fibers, lined softly with downy materials. The bulk of the nest 

 was amazing in contrast to the size of the tiny bird that had built 

 it. Only the female was in attendance. On April 6, on the Rio Jaque, 

 we collected a male as it ranged high in heavy forest. 



Dr. Alexander Skutch (in litteris November 20, 1970) has kindly 

 furnished further details on the nest and eggs of this species as seen 

 at La Selva, in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica, April 13, 1967. 

 The nest hung from a slender twig of a fallen branch swinging a little 

 over a meter above the ground. The structure was similar to the 

 one described above but with dangling ends of material hanging below. 

 The two eggs were "white, with a wreath of light brown blotches 

 around the thicker end and scattered elsewhere." It was not possible 

 to remove them to be measured. 



In February and March 1959, on the Rio Tuira, near the mouth of 

 the Rio Paya, two of these small birds ranged through low trees 

 covered with a tangle of vines. Here they moved actively, but were 

 so tiny that it was difficult to distinguish them when they stopped to 

 rest. In flight near at hand the yellow-green wing markings flashed 



