2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, I45 



in song on March 23, when one was taken for a skin. Several small 

 groups of barn swallows passed on this same day, moving toward 

 the north. On March 21 single purple martins were reported at 

 intervals during the day in northward flight off shore. One was 

 recorded on March 19 on the airstrip at Fort Sherman, Canal Zone, 

 and another was observed March 20 at sea about 15 kilometers off the 

 mouth of Rio Belen, on the boundary between the provinces of 

 Colon and Veraguas. Swainson's thrushes {Hylocichla ustulafa), 

 taken March 21 and 24, and a red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus), on 

 March 23, are identified to species only, as they were placed in 

 formalin. Other migrants, all in formalin, include the black-and- 

 white warbler (Mniotilta varia), on March 22, and the prothonotary 

 warbler {Protonotaria citrea), worm-eating warbler {Helmitheros 

 vermivorus), ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillns) , and northern water- 

 thrush (Seinrus novehoracensis), taken on March 21. A male 

 summer tanager (Piranga rubra rubra) in full breeding plumage, 

 prepared as a skin, was collected March 21, and another was re- 

 corded on the day following. 



An immature yellow-crowned night heron, another addition to the 

 island list, appears to be the resident race of Panama, Nyctanassa 

 molacea caliginis, while a single green heron (Butorides virescens) , 

 seen March 20 and 21, was believed to be a migrant. A pair of 

 pygmy kingfishers (Chloroceryle aenea aenea) caught in mist nets 

 set up near the lagoon March 24, form an interesting addition to 

 the island residents. Men with me in 1958, and those with Handley, 

 saw a small rail that was not collected, but from the description it 

 may have been the white-throated rail (Laterallus albigularis) which 

 is common on the mainland. George Barratt, with Handley, also 

 reported a night bird with batlike flight that probably was a species 

 of goatsucker. 



Specimens in formalin of the endemic races of the manakin, 

 Manacus vitellinus amiiinus, bay wren, Thryothorus nigricapillus 

 odicus, and blue-gray tanager, Thraitpis virens caesitia, all show 

 clearly the decidedly larger size of the first two, and the heavier bill 

 found in the tanager when compared to birds of the adjacent main- 

 land. The same character of larger dimension is present in the 

 island form of the thick-spined rat, described by Dr. Handley, and is 

 in much greater evidence in the hummingbird, whose description 

 follows. 



