55§ BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 2 



the valley of the Rio Indio (El Uracillo, northern Code, and Chilar, 

 western Colon) east through the valley of the lower Rio Chagres from 

 Madden Lake to the sea in the Canal Zone; and to Mandinga in the 

 western San Bias; to 1,500 meters on the west, (less commonly to 

 Cerro Punta at 1,800 meters) and to 1,600 meters on the east side of 

 the volcano in Chiriqui. 



In the eastern Province of Panama in February 1962, I noted these 

 birds near El Llano on the lower Rio Bayano. Farther east, in 1950, 

 it was common at Chiman and on the Rio Maje from near the mouth 

 to the Quebrada Cauchero at the base of Cerro Chucanti. The most 

 eastern record is that of Festa (Salvadori and Festa, Bol. Mus. Zool. 

 Anat. Comp. Univ. Torino, vol. 14, 1899, p. 8) who collected 2 at 

 Punta la Sabana, Darien, June 26, and in July, 1895. This locality is 

 on the northern shore of the estuary in the mouth of the lower Rio 

 Tuira. The bird apparently is restricted to the coastal area here, as 

 it has not been found farther inland in the Tuira-Chucunaque Valley. 



On the Caribbean slope in 1952 these birds were common along 

 the Rio Indio from the mouth in western Colon inland to El Uracillo in 

 northern Code. They are common in the northern area of the Canal 

 Zone but do not appear to range in the Chagres Valley above Madden 

 Lake. Near Mandinga in the western end of San Bias they were 

 common in 1957. It is possible that they continue somewhat farther 

 east along this coast, but they have not been found in the eastern 

 San Bias. 



Beyond Chiriqui, Wagler's woodpeckers continue in southwestern 

 Costa Rica to the upper valley of the Rio Terraba and its tributary 

 the Rio General, ranging upward to about 1,350 meters on the slopes 

 of the Cordillera de Talamanca. As the most western point in the 

 range of the Colombian race C. r. rubricapillns is near the coast in 

 the lower Sinu Valley in the Department of Cordoba, there is a con- 

 siderable gap in the distribution of the species. 



Within the range outlined this is a common bird, widely known as 

 it is found in trees standing scattered in pastures and other open lands, 

 and comes also to shade trees around houses, even in the larger towns 

 and cities. In the savannas it follows the lines of trees along streams, 

 and near the sea ranges in mangroves. It also may be widely spread 

 in gallery forest, even where this is tall, but here it is not seen easily 

 as it lives among the higher, more open branches, of the leafy tree 

 crown, where it is partial to dead stubs that project in the sunlight 

 above. The birds are adaptable so that as forests are deared they 

 remain in the scattered trees usually left standing, and thrive in 



