FAMILY CUCULIDAE 120, 



the usual common name of garrapatero — translated freely as one who 

 removes ticks. They are also called talingo and tio Luis, both names 

 given in imitation of their calls. 



Dampier (Voy. New Holland, etc. vol. 3, 1703, p. 73) remarks that 

 "they are not good food, but their bills are reckoned a good antidote 

 against poison." He remarked also on their use as primitive "love- 

 potions." 



CROTOPHAGA SULCIROSTRIS SULCIROSTRIS Swainson: 

 Groove-billed Ani, Garrapatero Sabanero 



Figure 17 



Crotophaga sulcirostris Swainson, Phil. Mag., new sen, vol. 1, no. 6, June 1827, 

 p. 440. (Temascaltepec, Mexico.) 



Slightly smaller than the smooth-billed ani, with the sides of the 

 bill distinctly grooved. 



Description. — Length 300-320 mm. Bill compressed as in the 

 smooth-billed ani, with several deeply impressed, curved, longitudinal 

 grooves in both mandibles. Adult (sexes alike), dull black, with a 

 faint violet gloss on wings and central tail feathers ; head and neck 

 feathers edged with dull bronze; back, wing coverts, and breast 

 feathers tipped with dull bronze-green to form indistinct lunulate 

 markings ; underside of wings and tail with a faint bluish or greenish 

 gloss. 



Young, brownish black, with a bluish or greenish gloss on wing and 

 tail feathers. 



Male and female taken January 21, 1962 at Guanico Arriba, Los 

 Santos, had the iris dark neutral gray ; bare loral area dull black ; bill 

 dusky neutral gray, blackish at tip, changing to neutral gray on the 

 base of the gonys ; tarsus, toes, and claws black. 



The skin in adult birds, beneath the feathers is dull black. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Panama), wing 128.0-141.4 

 (134.3), tail 164-186 (173.4), culmen from base 27.5-29.7 (28.2), 

 tarsus 30.6-35.8 (33.8) mm. 



Females (10 from Panama), wing 128.2-132.7 (129.7), tail 158- 

 174 (167.4), culmen from base 26.2-30.6 (27.6), tarsus 31.0-35.5 

 (33.6) mm. 



Resident. Locally common in the tropical lowlands. Recorded on 

 the Pacific slope from western Chiriqui to the mouth of the Rio 

 Bayano in the eastern sector of the Province of Panama, including the 

 eastern side of the Azuero Peninsula : on the Caribbean side from the 



