FAMILY TROGLODYTIDAE 



79 



the Caribbean coast. In Chiriqui, from Quebrada Santo Domingo 

 (west of Concepcion and Alanje) east through David to San Felix; 

 Veraguas, including Remedios, Cerro Flores, Chitra, Santa Fe, Calove- 

 vora, and Santiago as well as the western side of the Azuero Peninsula 

 (Paracote, Mariato River); Los Santos (to Punta Mala); Herrera; 

 southern Code; western Province of Panama (Playa Coronado, Cerro 

 Campana), and the eastern section to La Jagua, Chepo, San Antonio, 

 and the lower Bayano Valley. In the Canal Zone found mainly on the 

 Pacific side near Panama City and Chiva Chiva; Goldman, in 1912 

 secured 1 at Tavernilla, now submerged in Gatun Lake near Barro 

 Colorado Island. Major General Meyer found it near Summit. In 

 mountain areas it is recorded to 750 m near El Valle, Code, and to 1000 

 m on Cerro Hoya, Los Santos, and to 1500 m at Boquete (Quid) . 



These birds are found in pairs, usually on or near the ground in 

 thickets of fairly open areas. Often they appear less timid than most 

 other species as they range in brush-filled gullies or low thickets in 

 open areas, or in the denser ground cover in gallery forest. They seem 

 adaptable, and are able to exist in second growth when this follows 

 clearing of the original forest. As they move about under cover of vines 

 and low shrubbery, their presence may be known from the songs of the 

 males. These begin with a rolling repetition of a loud note that changes 

 to a trill, the two mingling with varying cadence in pleasing combina- 

 tion. On the whole, they sound less emphatic in utterance than the 

 songs of others of the genus found in Panama. Songs attributed to the 

 females, heard alternately with those of males, are softer, less emphatic 

 in tone. They often respond to whistled imitations, and also are at- 

 tracted by squeaking sounds. 



The field notes of Major General G. Ralph Meyer for July 30, 1941, 

 describe a nest, found near the Gamboa Road junction, as bulky, made 

 of grass, hanging in the fork of a "bull thorn" or bullhorn acacia (Aca- 

 cia costaricensis and allies ) . The tubular entrance was almost at a right 

 angle to the axis of the main nest, which lay along the trunk of the tree. 

 The whole was about 300 mm long by 125 mm wide, with the tubular 

 entrance about 50 mm in diameter. Other nests were present in the 

 same kind of small tree, infested with fierce small ants (Pseudomyrma) 

 that live symbiotically on these plants. Meyer recorded that this wren 

 was host to the parasitic Striped Cuckoo, Tapera naevia excellens. ( See 

 Wetmore, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 150, Part 2, 1968, p. 135). 

 Meyer described the three eggs found in the nest as colored greenish 

 white, with measurements as follows: 2 1.6 X 15.7, 22.2 X 15.2, and 22.3 X 

 15.7 mm. 



