FAMILY PSITTACIDAE 87 



the green leaves. I have found it in areas of heavy forest on the Carib- 

 bean slope of northern Code, at El Uracillo, and on the head of the 

 Rio Guabal, a tributary of the Rio Code del Norte, but to date the 

 species has not been reported from the northern slope of Veraguas, 

 nor from Bocas del Toro. Perhaps it has been overlooked in the heavy 

 forest cover. The perico is common on Isla Coiba, and I found them 

 also on Isla Cebaco. In March 1955, there were a few around the 

 village on Isla Taboga (possibly birds brought originally as pets from 

 the mainland as I did not see them there in 1952). They are not re- 

 corded on islands in the Archipielago de las Perlas. The only records 

 from mountain areas are of 3 reported by Griscom (Bull. Mus. Comp. 

 Zool., vol. 69, 1929, p. 159) taken by Benson near Cana, Darien. 



Like most parakeets these are highly social so that though they are 

 usually in pairs they congregate with others to form small flocks. 

 Where food is abundant a dozen to 20 or more may range in company. 

 These bands chatter constantly with high-pitched calls, particularly as 

 they twist and turn in swift flight through the trees. When they alight 

 they seem to disappear as they crouch motionless amid the green leaves 

 that match their plumage. I have measured their flight speed by 

 speedometer at 45 miles per hour when they were moving parallel to 

 my car on a highway. 



Small drupes are favored food, and they are nectar feeders also, 

 particularly at such flowers as those of the guayabo. Often in handling 

 them I have found the throat filled with the sweet fluid from such 

 blossoms. I have seen them pulling pods of the barrigon (Bombax) 

 apart to get at the small seeds, and they also eat fleshy parts of the 

 flowers of the balsa. 



In the breeding season, mainly from February to April, the pairs 

 seek old woodpecker holes, other cavities in dead trees, or tunnels 

 excavated in termite nests. At this time scattered birds often rest in 

 dead trees standing in clearings. They are prolific as I have seen as 

 many as 8 fledglings taken from 1 nest. The young are sought to be 

 reared for pets, especially in March. In Darien it has been usual to 

 find 3 or 4 of these juveniles walking about on the floor of the house 

 platforms of the Choco Indians, and to see them carried about by 

 children everywhere. Country stores may have half a dozen to a dozen 

 for sale, huddled quietly in the shelter of a small box. Flocks begin 

 to congregate again in May when the young are grown, and the birds 

 tend to remain in these companies until the next nesting season. 



An abnormal specimen largely blue, taken by McLeannan at Lion 

 Hill from a flock of normal color, was described by George N. Law- 



