I36 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA — PART 2 



vol. 24, 1942, p. 251), reports those in the Penard collection as "gloss- 

 less, light blue, as light heron's eggs ; some eggs nearly white." His 

 measurements of 50 eggs give the following range : 18.7-23.5 X 14.1- 

 17.3 mm. Bits of broken shell in the oviduct of a striped cuckoo that 

 I shot at Buenavista, Chiriqui, March 1, 1960, were a beautiful blue. 

 The eggs of the Furnarniids recorded as foster parents are white. It 

 is interesting to record that the rufous-and-white wren lays a plain 

 blue, unspotted egg. Both the wren and the ovenbirds build closed 

 nests, with entrance through a narrow, elongated tunnel. It has been 

 suggested that the cuckoo might make an opening in the dome of the 

 nest in order to insert its egg. The ovenbirds are said to repair such 

 damage quickly. Hugh C. Land, however, at a meeting of the A.O.U. 

 in Toronto, August 24, 1967 in a motion picture showed the slender- 

 bodied cuckoo entering the narrow nest tunnel of the spine-tail Synal- 

 laxis erythrothorax and later emerging without difficulty. 



In connection with other possible hosts, the plain wren (Thryo- 

 thorus modestus elutus), found in the range of the cuckoo from the 

 Canal Zone westward, also lays an unmarked egg that is white in 

 color. 



Because of its constant calls the striped cuckoo is widely recognized. 

 In addition to the common name tres pesos it is known also as brujo, 

 pdjaro brujero, and brujillo, terms that indicate belief that it is a witch. 

 A less common appellation is cuatro alas — four wings — from the large 

 size and prominence of the alula. According to one amusing folk tale 

 heard in Veraguas the cuckoo is under control of a witch, and when its 

 master whistles the bird must answer. Should it fail to reply the witch 

 will work a charm through which the cuckoo will lose its feathers and 

 be left naked. So to avoid the chance of this calamity the poor bird 

 whistles all day long! 



To the north this race of the striped cuckoo ranges in the tropical 

 lowlands to southeastern Mexico. Two other subspecies are recog- 

 nized in South America where the species is found to northern Argen- 

 tina and Uruguay. 



DROMOCOCCYX PHASIANELLUS RUFIGULARIS 

 Lawrence: Pheasant Cuckoo, Pajaro Gallo 



Dromococcyx rufigularis Lawrence, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1867, 

 p. 233. (Guatemala.) 



A crested cuckoo with small head ; dark above, with spotted f oreneck 

 and upper breast ; tail large and broad. 



Description. — Length 330-390 mm. Tail feathers long and broad ; 



