34 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 2 



Measurements. — Males (12 from Panama), wing 111.5-116.3 

 (113.2), tail 64.0-76.0 (69.1), culmen 13.4-15.6 (14.6), tarsus 18.0- 

 20.2 (19.1) mm. 



Females (8 from Panama), wing 106.5-112.4 (109.4), tail 67.0- 

 71.0 (69.2), culmen 13.3-15.1 (14.3), tarsus 17.9-19.3 (18.7) mm. 



Resident. Common in the Tropical and lower Subtropical Zones 

 throughout the mainland. Isla Coiba ; Isla Cebaco. 



These handsome little doves, of shy and retiring habit, are birds that 

 find farmlands where a few trees remain, forest edge along streams, 

 the borders of mangrove swamps, and low growths back of beaches 



Figure 5. — Blue ground-dove, tortolita azul, Claravis pretiosa. 



and marsh lands attractive haunts. Since much of the time they re- 

 main hidden, either in feeding quietly on the ground, or in resting 

 behind the shelter of leaves, their abundance is recognized in the main 

 from the steady calls of the males, that are heard from early morning 

 through the heat of the day. The note, coo-o, sometimes slightly ac- 

 cented at the end, coo-ah, is uttered with a rising inflection. As it is 

 repeated softly for minutes at a time, it may become so much of a 

 background sound for the more striking calls of other birds that it 

 almost passes unnoticed. 



They range often in pairs, and come down briefly to shaded gravel 

 bars to drink and pick up grit, but at any movement fly at once to 

 cover. In early morning they sometimes appear on the ground along 

 less frequented roads. In the San Bias and Darien they are found 

 around the fields of the Indians, which, it may be supposed, have been 

 a favored haunt for ages. 



