FAMILY PICIDAE 559 



second growth, when this grows to cover any wastelands. Below the 

 La Jagua Hunting Club they ranged far out across open marshes along 

 the long lines of fence posts that separated the pastures. Only in heavy 

 stands of wet rain and cloud forests are they absent. It is probable 

 that they may extend their present range as forests are felled and the 

 land becomes more open. 



Wagler's woodpeckers regularly are found in pairs that occupy 

 territories, and do not gather in sociable groups like those common 

 among the acorn woodpeckers. Usually they are not shy, as their 

 rattling, chattering calls attract attention as they rest on open perches. 

 During their bounding flights between trees the tail appears short in 

 relation to the broad, rounded wings, and the white rump shows 

 prominently. 



The nesting period on the Pacific slope of Panama seems to begin 

 toward the end of March. Though the birds drum occasionally at 

 any season, then they are heard constantly. The sound is rapid, though 

 not as fast as that of the related species, the red-bellied woodpecker 

 Centurns carolinus, of the southeastern United States. Also the 

 sequence is somewhat shorter. Males in display follow the females 

 in flight, and then when they alight raise the stiffly spread wings to 

 hold them at a 45° angle while they call rapidly and repeatedly a 

 high-pitched note, whick whick which. Skutch (Scient. Monthl., 1943, 

 pp. 360-361 ; Anim. Kingdom, vol. 59, 1956, p. 53) records that the 

 male digs a hole in which he sleeps, and in which the female finally 

 lays her eggs. Male and female alternate in incubation by day, but 

 at night the female sleeps elsewhere, leaving the nest to the male. 

 When the fledged young leave the nest they are not permitted to return 

 at night. I have found grown young on the wing at the end of May 

 and during June. 



The field notes of Jewel (Stone, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 

 vol. 70, 1918, p. 259) describe a nest found April 28, 1912, in a 

 hole in a stub about 4^ meters from the ground. The 2 eggs measured 

 23.6x17.5 and 23.9x17.8 mm. All eggs in this family are glossy 

 white. Jewel also recorded juvenile birds leaving the nest March 19, 

 1911, near Tabernilla, Canal Zone. 



These birds are mainly insect feeders taking ants, beetles, small 

 caterpillars, and other insects and spiders. They also eat drupes in 

 berry-bearing trees on occasion. 



CENTURUS RUBRICAPILLUS SUBFUSCULUS Wetmore 



Centurus rubricapillus subjuscuhis Wetmore, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 134, 

 no. 9, July 8, 1957, p. 50. (Isla Coiba, Panama.) 



