126 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



The male from Lerida, while listed by Blake as M. g. melanopterus, 

 on examination proves to be the somewhat larger race tolimensis. 



With regard to introduction, an account received through the ento- 

 mologist James Zetek, long resident in Panama, relates that during 

 World War I a shipment of mockingbirds that originated in Medellin, 

 Colombia, came to the Canal Zone en route to the United States. Since 

 all birds were temporarily prohibited entry into that country as a pre- 

 caution against the disease psittacosis (then little understood), the car- 

 rier released the entire shipment. 



I was told of a similar occurrence in 1956 by Mr. E. J. Husted, re- 

 tired employee under the Canal Zone government and a resident of the 

 Canal Zone since boyhood. Mr. Husted related that in late 1935, about 

 100 live mockingbirds in cages were brought from Colombia on a ship 

 that docked at Pier 18 in Balboa. They were loaded on a truck in Mr. 

 Husted's charge, the birds being intended for sale in the market. When 

 the authorities demanded a dollar import duty per bird, the importer, 

 who had expected to sell them at $1.50 each, became disgusted and re- 

 leased the entire shipment. 



Colombia has 2 populations of this mockingbird that differ slightly 

 in size. The somewhat larger form, the subspecies Mimus gilvus toli- 

 mensis, found in western and southern Colombia, measures, as follows : 

 Male, wing 116.2-129.5, tail 114.7-128.7 mm. Female, wing 108.9- 

 122.3, tail 102.4-120.4 mm. The other, Mimus gilvus melanopterus, 

 slightly smaller, has the following dimensions: Male, wing 109.1-119.8, 

 tail 102.4-120.4 mm. Female, wing 93.4-101.2, tail 100.1-108.3 mm. 

 It is found in northeastern and eastern Colombia to Venezuela and 

 Guyana southward to adjacent northern Brazil. 



The two are closely similar in pattern of markings and in color. 

 While it is possible that both may have been represented in imported 

 captives, the few that have been available for examination as museum 

 specimens have the size of the larger tolimensis. 



In Ancon, where I have seen them regularly, they carry nesting ma- 

 terial into the tops of the royal palms in late December and early Janu- 

 ary. Young with short tails, recently from the nest, have been observed 

 from mid-December to mid- September. 



In song and mannerisms this mockingbird is closely similar to our 

 common species Mimus polyglottos of the United States, although it is 

 not known to imitate other birds. On the ground, males frequently 

 stand or move with partly spread, waving wings (which are plain, with- 

 out white), exactly like our northern species. The mannerism is one 



