FAMILY TROGLODYTIDAE 



123 



freedom from disturbance. Blake recorded 1 from 3000 m on the vol- 

 cano in Chiriqui. My own few records there were from 1500 m. I 

 found them also in the higher forests on Cerro Campana, and on Cerro 

 Azul, and to 1300 m on Cerro Tacarcuna. 



This small and secretive species is encountered on the ground in heavy 

 forest, moving about under dense cover. On first sight, their rather 

 heavy bodies, long bills, and very short tails briefly suggest tiny rails 

 rather than wrens. Rarely, in some heavily shaded area, one may ap- 

 pear briefly from a tangle of roots, with body bobbing excitedly, utter- 

 ing low, high-pitched chattering calls. To Slud and Ridgely its gait 

 suggests a Spotted Sandpiper's. 



Although very infrequently seen, on the basis of its distinctive vocali- 

 zation, it proves not uncommon in forest and canopied second-growth 

 woods in humid regions, while somewhat local. Between the years 1965 

 and 1976 it has been recorded on the basis of voice in the western Chiri- 

 qui highlands (between El Volcan and Sereno, Pujals, 1976) , Veraguas 

 ( above Santa Fe near and below the Continental Divide (Eisenmann, 

 Pujals, N. G. Smith, Ridgely, 1973-75; in 1926 R. Benson collected 1 at 

 Santa Fe as low as 480 m [specimen in American Museum of Natural 

 History]); Province of Panama (Cerro Campana, Cerro Azul-Cerro 

 Jefe hill forest, Rio Bayano Basin forest in lowlands along El Llano- 

 Carti road, Rio Maje, and "Cuipo" (Cavanillesia) forest on ride along 

 road to Jesus Maria (same observers and years) ; Canal Zone (Chagres 

 Basin, near Summit, and Caribbean coastal area); extreme eastern 

 Darien (in Tuira basin near Rio Mono to Cerro Quia up to 750 m, 

 Ridgely 1975; specimen in Gorgas Memorial Laboratory collection 

 from Cerro Quia) . Tape recordings have been taken by E. S. Morton 

 (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology) in Panama Province and the 

 Canal Zone, and in most areas birds have been mist-netted frequently. 

 Specimens have been preserved from Cerro Campana and the Pipeline 

 area near Gamboa. 



The distinctive vocalization consists of a series of ten or so long, 

 drawn, very thin, high whistles each on one tone, and separated by in- 

 creasing intervals of silence, usually from ca. 2-10 seconds, but when 

 the song is long perhaps to 15; the last may be separated by as much as 

 30 seconds (fide R. Smart) . Each note of this series is about a second 

 long, and successive whistles seem on the same or very slightly lower 

 pitch. Before the thin whistled series starts, there is an introductory 

 phrase of about 4 to 7 short notes, usually given so fast that they may 

 seem jumbled, moving up and down scale. At Rancho Grande, Vene- 

 zuela, Eisenmann recognized the same thin, whistled song (race squa- 



