FAMILY TROGLODYTIDAE 



87 



This common lowland wren, found in thickets in swampy, low-lying 

 areas on the shores of Almirante Bay, is known mainly by its songs 

 and chattering, and scolding notes, since the birds remain hidden in 

 dense cover. They were observed regularly in pairs. 



Carriker (Ann. Carnegie Mus., vol. 6, 1910, p. 761) reports finding 

 many nests in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica, including the Rio 

 Sicsola [= Sixaola], the boundary with Panama in Bocas del Toro. 

 The nest is an elbow-sloped structure usually hung in an upright crotch 

 of some small tree or shrub from 1.6 to 5 m above the ground, generally 

 about 25 cm long and 8 to 13 cm in diameter at the larger end. All Car- 

 riker found were built of weed stems, grass, rootlets, and skeletonized 

 leaves, and lined with soft skeletonized leaves. Two nests, each with 

 three fresh eggs on May 9 and 11, apparently contained the full com- 

 plement. The eggs were "pure white, sparingly speckled over the whole 

 surface (more thickly about the large end) with cinnamon-brown." 

 One set measured 23x16, 25x16.5, and 24x17 mm. 



The type of this race, named by Sharpe, in the British Museum, is 

 listed in the volume on type specimens (Warren and Harrison, vol. 2, 

 Passerines, 1971, p. 132), as "Costa Rica. Collected by and purchased 

 of A. Boucard." The collector (Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1878, p. 51), 

 who listed the bird under the name "Thryophihis castaneus, Lawr.," 

 said of it "Several specimens from San Carlos; killed in February." 

 He described the locality (cit. supra, p. 38) as on Rio San Carlos, a 

 tributary of Rio San Juan on the Caribbean slope. I have, therefore, 

 designated this area as the type locality (Wetmore, Smiths. Misc. Coll., 

 vol. 139, no. 2, 1959, p. 19). 



THRYOTHORUS NIGRICAPILLUS ODICUS Wetmore 



TJiryothorns nigricapillus odicus Wetmore, Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 139, no. 2, 

 July 8, 1959, p. 14. (Isla Escudo de Veraguas, off the base of the Valiente 

 Peninsula, Bocas del Toro, Panama.) 



Character. — Similar to Thryothorus n. costaricensis, of the adjacent 

 mainland, but definitely larger; bill longer, heavier; brown of back and 

 undersurface definitely paler, ochraceous-tawny. 



Measurements. — Males (5 specimens), wing 75.2-79.2 (77.0), tail 

 58.6-62.3 (60.2), culmen from base 21.8-24.2 (23.2), tarsus 28.4-31.8 

 (29.7) mm. 



Females (6 specimens) , wing 70.2-72.8 (71.6), tail 54.5-58.8 (56.8), 

 culmen from base 21.0-22.3 (21.5), tarsus 26.1-28.7 (27.2) mm. 

 Resident. Found only on Isla Escudo de Veraguas, Bocas del Toro. 



