40 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 2 



31.3x20.6-21.3 mm. The dates extend from January to July. It is 

 probable that the birds nest through most of the year. 



The rabiblanca, sometimes called Htibua in imitation of its call, is 

 one of the common game birds of the country that, in spite of steady 

 shooting by those with guns and constant trapping by country boys, 

 seems to hold its own. Like the crested bobwhite, it is often sold alive 

 in markets. 



Unless too constantly molested these doves are tame, and often 

 exhibit curiosity. Frequently when I have moved slowly and quietly 

 through thickets I have had one fly toward me and alight near at hand. 

 Suddenly the tip of the tail would be lowered, then brought quickly 

 above the back and spread widely, while the head was nodded. On 

 Isla Taboga I saw these doves repeatedly fly between the trees at 

 Restinga on the main island and the wooded islet of El Morro, a 

 distance of 300 meters or more, wholly in the open. This readiness 

 to fly over water explains their wide distribution among the islands of 

 the Perlas group, and elsewhere along the Pacific Coast. 



There is some variation in depth of color in the gray-brown dorsal 

 surface in the considerable series that we have from the entire range 

 in Panama. The only really aberrant specimen is a male from Isla 

 Parida taken February 2, 1962, that is decidedly darker brown than 

 any other specimen seen. 



LEPTOTILA PLUMBEICEPS NOTIUS Peters: Gray-headed 

 Dove; Paloma Cabeciceniza 



Leptotila phimbciceps notius Peters, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 71, February 

 1931, p. 298. (Almirante, Bocas del Toro, Panama.) 



A medium-sized, ground-inhabiting dove with gray head, olive- 

 brown back, and vinaceous-buff breast. 



Description. — Length 235 to 260 mm. Adult male, forehead grayish 

 white to bluish gray, changing to slate-gray on crown and hindneck ; 

 rest of upper parts and central tail feathers olive-brown ; wing feathers 

 dusky ; outermost tail feathers dusky, tipped with white ; throat white ; 

 side of head, foreneck, and chest deep vinaceous-buff, becoming gray 

 at the sides, and more pinkish on the lower breast ; abdomen and upper 

 tail coverts white ; sides and flanks light olive-brown ; axillars, under 

 wing coverts, and proximal inner webs of remiges cinnamon-rufous. 



Female, similar, but duller in color. 



In 2 female specimens from near Almirante, Bocas del Toro, Febru- 

 ary 12, 1958, the iris was dull Marguerite yellow ; bare skin of loral 



