44^ BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA — PART 2 



On the Caribbean slope the species is more common and is more 

 evenly distributed. It is found through Bocas del Toro from the 

 Costa Rican boundary eastward, ranging in the heavy forests of 

 the lower mountain slopes to 730 meters on the upper Rio Changuena, 

 and to 450 meters on the trail leading to Boquete. In 1952 I found 

 it along the Rio Indio from Chilar, above the mouth in western 

 Colon, to El Uracillo in the foothills of northern Code. A fair 

 number persist scattered through the northern Canal Zone and 

 the valleys of the rivers tributary to the Chagres above Madden 

 Lake. And it continues through eastern Colon (Portobelo) and the 

 San Bias, where it is known from Mandinga in the west, and from 

 Perme, Armila, and Puerto Obaldia in the east. 



This motmot is a forest species, found regularly in pairs, and 

 more often heard than seen. They rest quietly on horizontal perches, 

 partly concealed in the taller undergrowth, or among the leaves 

 in the lower levels of the tree crown above. Like the blue-crowned 

 motmot, they regularly swing the tail like a pendulum from side 

 to side, with the body nearly motionless and the tail moving in an arc. 

 The usual call, heard regularly at dawn and also during the day, 

 is a low hoot-oot with the accent on the first syllable, varied regularly 

 to three syllables, and occasionally with the second repeated alone 

 several times as a rolling call. The tone is louder, more vehement, 

 and usually harsher than that of the blue-crown, so that with fa- 

 miliarity the two may be distinguished if not too far distant. Some- 

 times, in remote forests, a gunshot has started a chorus of calls 

 from birds near and far, hidden among leaves and so unseen. 

 Like the blue-crown, this species is often called juro, varied to 

 jurocito, in imitation of its note. Others call these birds tamborilero, 

 as their notes at a distance suggest the muffled beat of a tambor or 

 drum. 



The food is partly animal, partly vegetable. I have seen one 

 eating a small lizard, and others feeding on drupes of shrubs and 

 trees in the forest. Stomachs that I have examined have held frag- 

 ments of large orthoptera, caterpillars, and wasps, also seeds and 

 berries. Hallinan (Auk, 1924, p. 314) found spiders, beetles (some 

 an inch long) and a small fish in one. Stone (Proc. Acad. Nat. 

 Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 70, 1918, p. 252) records a small crab, entire, 

 in one taken by Jewel at Gatun. In observations on Barro Colo- 

 rado Island R. A. Johnson (Proc. Linn. Soc. New York, nos. 63-65, 

 1954, p. 59) noted these motmots over raiding ant swarms, reporting 

 that the birds "sit rather quietly on a horizontal liana or branch, 



