I38 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



El Volcan and Cerro Punta, and in Boquete (Lerida, Quid) ; recorded 

 also near Santa Fe in Veraguas, (elevation not stated), Isla Canal de 

 Afuera (sight record); Isla Cebaco. Not recorded from Perlas Is- 

 lands nor observed on Isla Coiba by any recent students (a specimen in 

 the American Museum of Natural History collected by Batty is prob- 

 ably mislabeled, as are many of his "island" specimens). 



The Clay-colored Robin is the best known of its group in Panama 

 because of its wide distribution. Under primitive conditions it is com- 

 mon in open forest growth, and in brushy areas; in denser stands found 

 mainly along streams or other borders. As the land is cleared for culti- 

 vation this is one of the birds that is able to adapt to the changed con- 

 ditions, perhaps even to profit by them, as it shifts to the borders of 

 fields, to rastrojo, where quick-growing shrubs offer cover, and also 

 settles among coconut groves, mangos, and other trees and shrubbery 

 about houses; it even follows clearings well up into the mountains. In 

 the older, settled regions, when lawns are developed, in due course the 

 Casca Pardo becomes bolder, so that in Balboa and Panama City it 

 runs about freely on open lawns, like the American Robin so wide- 

 spread in the settled areas of North America. Its usual mannerisms are 

 closely similar to the northern bird, much more so than is the case with 

 most others of its genus found in Panama. 



Though this thrush is seen constantly, its true abundance is evident 

 only when trees that bear edible berries are in fruit. Then the birds 

 come in numbers, often boldly, to feed with other birds. Like the 

 American Robin (Turdus migratorius) they eat many earthworms 

 where these are abundant, and like related thrushes they decoy readily 

 when I have used calls to attract small birds. Their alarm note is a 

 rapid repetition of a single syllable, pup, pup, higher in pitch than that 

 of the northern robin. A common note, rather low, is a curious drawn- 

 out whine that suggests vaguely some of the calls of the Smooth-billed 

 Ani. 



When the first brief rains come in the latter half of the dry season, 

 perhaps in February, the Casca Pardo begins to sing, at first in low 

 tone and hesitantly, but by early March males in full song present a 

 chorus at the first hint of dawn that has awakened me pleasantly on 

 many tropical mornings. Eisenmann writes that the song resembles 

 that of the North American Robin, but tends to be softer and sweeter. 

 It sometimes includes twee-oo or chwee-oo phrases, which occasionally 

 are uttered alone and suggest a Streaked Saltator. Clucking and cack- 

 ing calls also suggest vocalizations of its northern congener, although 

 often sounding rather less vigorous. Distinctive is a long-drawn, whin- 



