FAMILY TURDIDAE 



157 



described, found it fairly common in undergrowth. He described the 

 song as three short syllables given in sequence, with the middle one 

 slightly higher in tone than the others. In late April they were in pairs 

 and were breeding. A set of two eggs that he collected on April 30, 

 1912, are very pale greenish white, spotted lightly with dots of cin- 

 namon-brown, which are grouped to form a faintly-indicated cap on 

 the summit of the blunt end. They measure as follows: 24.7 X 17.7, and 

 25.0x18.3 mm. 



In both Darien populations the distinct yellow wash on the under- 

 pays of fresh birds disappears in a relatively short time (fide P. Ga- 

 lindo; also noted by Eisenmann). 



CATHARUS FUSCATER FUSCATER (Lafresnaye) 



Myioturdus fuscater Lafresnaye, Rev. Zool., vol. 8, September 1845, p. 341. (Bo- 

 gota, Colombia.) 



Characters. — Upper foreneck and throat white; side of head and 

 chin deep black. 



An adult male, taken February 24, 1964, on Cerro Mali, Darien, 

 had the iris pale brownish white; thickened border of eyelid yellow; 

 space above nostril, and distal end of culmen dull black; rest of bill, 

 tongue, and inside of mouth bright orange; gape orange-yellow; tarsus 

 and toes orange-yellow; claws yellowish brown. A female, collected 2 

 days later, was similar to the male. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Cerro Tacarcuna and Cerro Mali, 

 Darien), wing 85.4-90.7 (87.9), tail 69.4-76.0 (72.6), culmen from 

 base 17.1-19.5 (18.4), tarsus 33.8-35.3 (34.4) mm. 



Females (9 from Cerro Tacarcuna and Cerro Mali, Darien), wing 

 81.7-86.8 (83.3), tail 61.4-70.5 (66.8), culmen from base 17.6-19.6 

 (18.4, average of eight), tarsus 32.3-35.0 (33.6) mm. 



Resident. Subtropical Zone on Cerro Tacarcuna and Cerro Mali, 

 Darien, 600 to 1500 m; fairly common. 



Found locally, low in open undergrowth on the slopes of the moun- 

 tains, in part in cloud forest. In late February (1964), gonads were in 

 resting stage. In life, with the birds perched quietly near at hand, the 

 bright colors of eye, bill, and feet are prominent. 



This race appears to range through the mountains to Ecuador and 

 the eastern Andes of Colombia, and to the Sierra de Peri j a in north- 

 western V enezuela. In Panama, it extends across the higher slopes of 

 Tacarcuna. Nothing is recorded of its nesting. Specimens in the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History collected by Anthony on the eastern 



