FAMILY CAPITONIDAE 49 1 



waters of the Rio Pito, behind Armila, San Bias ; to 450 meters on 

 Cerro Pirre, and to 575 meters on the upper Rio Tacarcuna. 



This is the race that I have found to be the most common and widely 

 distributed during my years of field work in the Republic. They are 

 social birds of the heavier forests that range 2 or 3 together, or in 

 groups of 6 or more, that move about in company. They appear regu- 

 larly in the trees at the forest edge along the playones on the larger 

 streams, and in settled areas at the borders of clearings. On the wing 

 in short flights through the tree crown they often suggest jays. Their 

 food is composed of a variety of insects, usually those of medium 

 size. They are adroit in capture as I have seen them taking moths and 

 small butterflies on the wing. Small frogs and lizards also are cap- 

 tured. Usually they are more active than other puffbirds, but also rest 

 quietly when not searching for food. 



Nunbirds have a variety of loud, whistled and gabbled notes often 

 uttered excitedly by several birds simultaneously. In this 3 to 6 may 

 pose stiffly on a horizontal branch, spaced evenly 20 or 30 centimeters 

 apart, with open bills pointing upward, while they call in rapid medley 

 for several minutes, a spirited and amusing concert. On the Rio Jaque 

 in mid- April they were especially noisy, and those taken for specimens 

 were approaching breeding condition. In displays one bird that I 

 believed to be a male would posture with the tail spread fan-shape, 

 partly open wings, and opened bill pointing upward, while it swayed 

 toward its quiet companion. The Choco Indians told me that the 

 monjas nested like motmots in burrows dug in banks. Some of the 

 birds collected or observed had worn tail tips. 



On the Rio Jaque they were known as pdjaro soma, while on the 

 Tuira they were sometimes called piloto. 



Family CAPITONIDAE, Barbets, Capitanes 



This tropical family, of more than 70 species, is most abundant in 

 the Old World especially in Africa, but ranges widely also in southern 

 Asia. Twelve species are known in America of which three are found 

 in Panama. All are birds of rather heavy, muscular bodies, with 

 plumage in some that is variegated with bright color, but in others is 

 plain and rather dull. 



The name barbet (bearded) comes from the bristlelike feathers that 

 project forward around the bill, more heavily developed in many of 

 the foreign kinds than in those of America. Several of those of the 

 Old World are widely known by their voices, a constant repetition of a 

 metallic call, varying in the different species, but a sound that is monot- 



