JO BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



Perme). Not definitely recorded west of the Canal Zone, although 

 present on the Achiote Road. No longer present on Barro Colorado 

 Island (Willis and Eisenmann, Smiths. Cont. Zool., no. 291, 1979. 

 p. 24). 



These wrens range usually in pairs in thickets, masses of vines, and 

 other low growth, commonly near water. The song, heard regularly, is 

 a loud, clear repetition of a phrase that may vary slightly. Occasionally 

 two birds may join, with the calls of one following quickly after the 

 other. Often one may answer another, even at some distance, their 

 notes suggesting those of Thryothorus nigricollis but higher in pitch, 

 in a repetition of three notes that vary in cadence in different indi- 

 viduals. Their songs at times may suggest those of the Bay Wren. 

 Frequently I have heard them scolding with low calls, chit-it, chip wit. 

 Songs noted by Eisenmann in Panama City and in Darien were loud, 

 ringing, and rich, very different from those of T. modestus, syllabized 

 a choreewee repeated over and over, then varied with phrases like cho- 

 weeoo and choreechee, wheeooree tickwheeoo-wichew (the tick soft); 

 also chwee-chweeeo and variations like chwee-chweeeee. Its calls in- 

 clude a rather soft trrrup varied to a sharper whrrrp, and a churr; none 

 of its calls resemble the very loud rattle of T. modestus. W f hen not 

 alarmed they may move actively through low growth, peering about, 

 like titmice swinging over to examine the lower surface of limbs and 

 twigs. 



Arbib and Loetscher in 1934 (Auk, 1935, p. 327) recorded these 

 wrens as "breeding during July and August" in or near the Canal Zone, 

 but give no other statement as to their nesting. Skutch (Condor, 1968, 

 pp. 70-71) describes nesting of an allied subspecies in Venezuela. He 

 found a dormitory as well as a breeding nest, the latter roughly globular 

 with an entrance on the side. The occupant was a nestling of the para- 

 sitic Shiny Cowbird. In Venezuela this wren often occurs on dry hill- 

 sides far from water. 



Stomachs that I examined have been filled with fragments of insects, 

 including remains of caterpillars, and with these, bits of spiders and a 

 pseudoscorpion. Males weighed by Burton (Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 

 1975, p. 85) range from 18.0 to 23.0 g, females from 16.0 to 19.5 g. 



Lawrence named this race for John R. Galbraith, "an intelligent and 

 skillful young taxidermist" from New York, who collected with Mc- 

 Leannan along the line of the Railroad in Panama during the winter 

 of 1860-61, contributing various notes on habits and other items of 

 interest. 



