COMMONEST BIRDS OF THE CANAL ZONE 



flocks with it, are very numerous, particu- 

 larly towards the end of the dry season. The 

 Lafresnaye's Sparrow (Arremenops s. striati- 

 ceps) skulks in hedges and thickets like the 

 Song Sparrow of the United States. In the 

 spring, it has a very remarkable and charac- 

 teristic call, a sequence of whistles, suggesting 

 the starting of a locomotive in the retarded 

 initial notes, with subsequent acceleration 

 finally merging the notes into a continuous 

 sound. The saltators resemble grosbeaks in 

 size and habits; two species, the Buff- throated 

 Saltator (S. intermedius) and the Streaked 

 Saltator (S. striatipectis isthmicus), are com- 

 mon, especially the latter, whose plaintive 

 whistles, sometimes beseeching, at other 

 times conversational, are heard repeatedly 

 during the spring and early summer months. 



At least three of the Panama species of 

 honey creepers may occasionally be seen ; one, 

 the Blue Honey creeper (Cyanerpes c. cyan- 

 eus), is at times found in Ancon. 



Many of the numerous North American 

 warblers are likely to turn up almost any- 

 where, especially during the migration season. 

 The Yellow Warbler (Dendroica cz. <z$tiva), 

 a winter resident, is by far the most abundant 

 of the migrating species; the Redstart (Seto- 

 phaga ruticilla) and the Chestnut-sided War- 

 bler (Dendroica pensylvanicd) are perhaps the 

 most common of the other migrant warblers, 

 and the Mangrove Warbler (Dendroica eritha- 

 chorides), closely allied to the Yellow Warbler, 

 is the commonest native one; it is always to 

 be found in the mangrove swamps. 



Besides the House Wren already men- 



