20 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA — PART 2 



of half a mile, but the birds are so shy that it takes careful stalking 

 over the mud terrain beneath the tall mangroves to see one. They 

 remain among the leaves in the tree crown, cooing at intervals, but 

 usually take alarm and fly with clapping wings before they may be 

 located in this cover. The usual call, whoo hod hoo-ah, may be varied 

 to a longer series of phrases, whoo hod hoo-ah how hoo-ah whoo. 

 Fishermen here call them paloma de la marea, as they believe that the 

 birds coo mainly during the period when the tide is changing. Though 

 I saw no nests at the end of January, I was told of nestlings that had 

 been taken recently to be reared in captivity. 



Hunting them was a slow operation and little rewarding until I 

 located a small open area called Isleta, raised a meter or so above the 

 level of the swamp, where corn and beans had been planted and in due 

 course harvested. Here the doves came to feed on waste grain, and by 

 baiting I was able in two visits to secure the specimens that I needed, 

 in addition to the few taken in the heavy swamps. Occasionally I had 

 a glimpse of one or two in flight through the lower open country, but 

 never far from the mangroves. They are hunted for game to some 

 extent, mainly around old fields like those at La Isleta. 



The race australis was described by Peters from 8 specimens from 

 the Province of Guanacaste on the Pacific slope of Costa Rica, includ- 

 ing 6 from the upland areas of Miravalles and Tenorio near the Volcan 

 Miravalles, 1 from Cerro Santa Maria, and 1 from Bolson, on the 

 lower course of the Rio Tempisque. The series from Panama differs 

 in grayer coloration on the dorsal surface and breast from Costa Rican 

 birds, which are brighter, browner above, and slightly brighter colored 

 on the breast. The brown coloration is especially evident on the central 

 tail feathers. Dr. George B. Saunders of the Fish and Wildlife Ser- 

 vice, who has been engaged for several years in a detailed study of the 

 white-winged dove, will include in his report now ready for publication 

 a description of the bird of Panama as a distinct subspecies. Until 

 this name is available I have listed the form under the name australis. 



Ridgway (U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 50, pt. 7, 1916, p. 380) mentioned 

 a specimen of white-winged dove in the Carnegie Museum, labeled 

 Nata, Code, May 20, 1889, collected by the Rev. Th. Heyde and 

 Ernesto Lux. He noted that this bird "is evidently referable to the 

 larger, grayer form" from farther north. The specimen is similar to 

 the population of parts of Guatemala where these missionaries also 

 traveled, so that it is considered another of their specimens that has 

 been wrongly labeled as to locality. 



The nest and eggs of the race of Panama to date have not been 



