FAMILY PSITTACmAE IO3 



collections of the British Museum). On January 19, 1963, I found 

 30 to 40 feeding in an old cornfield on the Rio Pocri, below Agua- 

 dulce, Code. Early collectors did not record the yellow-head in the 

 area of the present Canal Zone, though in recent years there have 

 been a few reports of the species on Barro Colorado Island. In 

 January 1961, several pairs came in the evening to roost in trees 

 bordering the Rio Chagres near Santa Rosa (above Juan Mina). 



Yellow-headed parrots are common on the drier eastern side of 

 the Azuero Peninsula, from the Rio Santa Maria to Punta Mala, 

 but not on the more humid Veraguas side. I have seen numbers feed- 

 ing and using night roosts near La Jagua, Panama. In Darien, I 

 have noted a few coming to night roosts at El Real, and in 1959 

 recorded several pairs on the Rio Chucunaque, near the mouth of the 

 Rio Tuquesa. 



On the Caribbean slope my only records for Bocas del Toro are of 

 a pair seen February- 6, 1958, near the mouth of the Rio Banana 

 and another pair February 23 on Cayo Coco. In February 1961, 

 they were common on the Rio Boqueron, above Madden Lake, but 

 I did not find them the following month on the Rio Pequeni. The 

 only mainland area on this slope in which I have noted them as 

 common has been near Armila and Puerto Obaldia, in the eastern 

 San Bias, where they were the most abundant parrot. In the Perlas 

 group they were fairly common in 1944 on Isla San Jose, and in 

 lesser number on Isla Pedro Gonzalez. 



Though found in the same feeding areas as the other large parrots 

 they do not appear to mix with them except in casual fashion. When 

 perched, and when the light is right when they are in flight, the 

 yellow forecrown is a mark for ready identification. And on the 

 wing the shorter tail, compared to the other two, may be noticed. 

 Though smaller in body the yellow-head is louder in voice, so that 

 though in fewer numbers its raucous notes may contribute largely 

 to the morning and evening chorus near parrot roosts. 



The species is common in captivity, prized for its ability as a 

 mimic of human speech and other sounds. 



The range of the subspecies A. o. panamensis beyond Panama is 

 accepted currently as extending across northern Colombia. However, 

 the series that I have examined from that area in the present studies 

 bears out the findings of Ridgway (U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 50, pt. 7, 

 1916, p. 251) that birds from Colombia are of slightly larger size, 

 with the wing in 6 males 202 to 207 (average 204.8) mm., and in 

 5 females 193-202 (average 198.2) mm. 



