286 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 2 



Resident. Fairly common through the Subtropical Zone, more 

 rarely in the upper Tropical Zone, in the mountains of Chiriqui and 

 Yeraguas. Recorded also in the Azuero Peninsula on Cerro Viejo. 



These large hummingbirds live in forest, though they may range 

 out in more open areas as well as in the denser stands. In the usual 

 encounter, I have found them feeding at flowers in undergrowth 

 where they move quietly. While they are capable of rapid flight, 

 ordinarily they seem less active than the smaller species of the family. 

 They are more common above 1,200 meters elevation, though they 

 may range lower as I have found them near 1,000 meters on the 

 Quebrada Santa Clara in western Chiriqui, and there is a specimen 

 in the California Academy of Sciences taken by Mrs. M. E. David- 

 son at 450 meters near Concepcion, Chiriqui, on December 10, 1929. 

 In the rainy season Worth (Auk, 1942, p. 364) found the males 

 singing steadily a series of rather varied notes that through constant 

 repetition became tiresome. 



They are known in Panama mainly from specimens taken in the 

 mountains around Boquete, and from the western slope of the 

 Volcano at Cerro Punta. From Cerro Pando they range across to 

 the Costa Rican boundary. To the east, Mrs. Davidson secured a 

 male on Cerro Flores above the upper Rio San Felix on January 7, 

 1932 (specimen in the California Academy of Sciences). In Veraguas, 

 Arce collected specimens on the Cordillera del Chucu, at Calovevora, 

 and near Chitra (Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr.-Amer., Aves, 

 vol. 2, July, 1892, p. 324). Aldrich (Scient. Publ. Cleveland Mus. 

 Nat. Hist., vol. 7, 1937, pp. 70-71) on March 13, 1932, collected a 

 male at Cavulla (900 meters elevation) on the watershed divide 

 between Veraguas and Los Santos, a mile southeast of the peak of 

 Cerro Viejo in the Azuero Peninsula. No others were found. The 

 bird appears to be rare on this mountain area, as C. O. Handley, Jr., 

 informs me that he did not see it during extended field work in 

 1962 on Cerro Hoya, 25 kilometers to the south. 



The considerable series of this species in our collection demon- 

 strates conclusively that two populations are represented, as recog- 

 nized by Peters. When viewed at the appropriate angle of light males 

 of the southern group (mellitus) are definitely violaceous, and those 

 from the north (typical hemileucurus) blue. 



Alexander Skutch (Nuttall Orn. Club, Publ. no. 7, 1967, pp. 20-21) 

 in the highlands of Costa Rica recorded males singing from rather 

 low perches in shrubbery, sometimes alone, sometimes with several 

 congregated in scattered company. "In a weak, unmelodious voice 



