548 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 3 



edged narrowly on lower end with yellowish white ; axillars and under 

 wing coverts yellowish white ; bend of wing lined with hair brown. 



Juvenile, darker, more olive above, with upper tail coverts browner ; 

 breast duller gray ; throat grayish white ; abdomen paler. 



A female, collected January 17, 1963, near Aguadulce, Code, in 

 the area known as Gallo, had the iris brown ; maxilla and tip of 

 mandible fuscous ; base of mandible dull bufify white ; tarsus, toes, and 

 claws dull black. 



Measurements. — Males (16 from Veraguas, Herrera, Los Santos, 

 and western Province of Panama), wing 54.8-60.5 (56.8), tail 48.7- 

 56.2 (51.5), culmen from base 10.0-11.6 (10.8), tarsus 17.0-18.3 

 (17.7) mm. 



Females (13 from Veraguas, Herrera, and Los Santos), wing 

 49.8-55.9 (52.8), tail 44.5-48.3 (46.7, average of 12), culmen from 

 base 9.9-11.5 (10.4, average of 12), tarsus 15.8-18.3 (16.9) mm. 



Resident. Locally common in thorn scrub and other thickets, in 

 the savanna area, from Sona, southern Veraguas, east through the 

 Azuero Peninsula in eastern Herrera, eastern and southern Los 

 Santos, eastern Code, and western Province of Panama, in the coastal 

 lowlands to Nueva Gorgona, and the Rio Sajalices, west of La 

 Campana. 



Because of its restricted distribution this species was not found 

 in Panama by early workers. It was first recorded (under the name 

 P. m. incomta) by Griscom (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 78, 1935, 

 p. 353) as found on "arid plains near Agua Dulce" with no other 

 comment. Another early record in print is of a female collected by 

 R. R. Benson, at El Villano, about 25 kilometers southeast of San- 

 tiago, Veraguas, in September 1924, recorded also under the name 

 incomta by Zimmer (Amer. Mus. Nov. no. 1109, 1941, p. 10). My 

 first acquaintance with it came in February and March 1948, when I 

 found it fairly common in the Azuero Peninsula, through Herrera, 

 ranging south into the Province of Los Santos. Through this 

 familiarity it was noted frequently elsewhere until the range was 

 established as outlined above. 



These are plain-colored little birds, rather nondescript in appear- 

 ance, that attract attention by their active movements through the 

 fairly open branches of the low shrubbery that they inhabit. In addi- 

 tion, they often utter chattering, trilling calls as a form of song. 

 Birds in breeding condition were found from late February to May. 

 They captured small insects for food and also fed with other small 

 birds at berry-bearing bushes and trees. 



