COMMONEST BIRDS OF THE CANAL 

 ZONE 



In spite of the fact that clearing the land 

 and the increase of human population in the 

 Zone have practically exterminated or driven 

 away no small numbers of interesting birds 

 once found there, the bird student will dis- 

 cover that the abundance and variety of birds 

 present a greater difficulty and perplexity 

 than any scarcity either of individuals or 

 species. 



It may be a help to the visitor who makes 

 only a brief stay in the Canal Zone, to men- 

 tion particularly the birds that are common in 

 or about the towns and cities and those most 

 likely to be noticed from the trains in crossing 

 the isthmus, or in trips to nearby islands in 

 Panama Bay. The season of the year makes 

 some difference in the variety of birds present ; 

 for, aside from the migrants from the north, 

 found only during a part of the year, many 

 of the strictly native species have somewhat 

 different haunts during the wet and dry 

 seasons, at the breeding period and at other 

 times. As the majority of visitors to Panama 

 will come in the winter and early spring 

 months, and as this, being the dry season, is 

 also the most propitious time to study birds, 

 species most in evidence at that time will be 

 considered. 



Of all the birds in the Zone, the Turkey 

 Vulture (Cathartes a. aura} and the Black 



