FAMILY APODIDAE 23 1 



CHAETURA VAUXI RICHMONDI Ridgway 



Chaetitra richmondi Ridgway, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 23, April 19, 

 1910, p. 53. (Guayabo, Costa Rica.) 



Characters. — Rump and upper tail coverts darker, definitely gray- 

 ish brown, similar in color to the breast. 



Measurements. — Males (8 from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa 

 Rica, and Chiriqui), wing 108.7-113.8 (111.4), tail 33.4-38.1 (35.0), 

 culmen from base 6.5-7.8 (7.2), tarsus 10.5-12.5 (11.5), mm. 



Females (11 from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Chiriqui), wing 

 106.0-114.8 (111.0), tail 34.5-37.9 (36.6), culmen from base 6.5-7.8 

 (7.1), tarsus 10.0-11.5 (11.1) mm. 



Resident. Recorded in the Subtropical Zone in western Chiriqui. 



This is the race that I have found in February and March during 

 several years at El Volcan and Cerro Punta, Chiriqui. Blake (Fieldi- 

 ana: Zool., vol. 36, 1958, p. 515) listed 2 males in the Monniche collec- 

 tion, taken above Boquete, at Bajo Mono, November 3, 1932, and 

 Lerida, September 21, 1936. 



In my own observations, while no nests were found, the swifts 

 displayed constantly, and those taken had the gonads enlarged, so that 

 it was evident the breeding season was near. In the flocks that I ob- 

 served daily at Palo Santo the birds frequently joined in pairs that 

 roamed the sky in company. The group of 40 or more found here 

 followed a regular daily pattern. Soon after sunrise they came to 

 drink and bathe at the farm pond, and then disappeared. Sometimes 

 they returned toward noon, but more often they came again when the 

 sun was low. If seen at other periods during the day usually they 

 ranged high in air. 



It is possible that this race is confined in its nesting in Panama to this 

 mountain area where the 7 that I have collected for specimens were 

 taken between 1,280 and 2,070 meters. 



Dickinson (Wilson Bull., 1951, pp. 201-202) on July 3, 1948, at a 

 little below 2,000 meters elevation on Cerro Uyuca, central Honduras, 

 saw a small swift enter an opening in a huge avocado tree. Two days 

 later he had laborers cut a hole in the base of the trunk where he 

 found the hollow center large enough to permit him to enter. The 

 nest of the swift, placed a little more than 5 meters above ground 

 level, was "a half cup made of short lengths of small dead twigs glued 

 together. It was fastened to the vertical wall of the tree and measured 

 approximately 10 by 6 cm. by 4 cm. deep." The 3 young were esti- 

 mated to be about 5 days old. He collected the male parent which was 

 identified as of the present race. 



