FAMILY PTI LOG O N AT I DA E 



167 



MYADESTES MELANOPS Salvin: Black-faced Solitaire, 

 Solitario Carinegro 



Figure 13 



Myiadestes melanops Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, for 1864, February 1865, 

 p. 580, pi. 35. (Tucurrique, Costa Rica.) 



Medium size; body color rather dark gray, with face, wings, and 

 tail black. 



Description. — Length 157-186 mm. Adult (sexes alike), body slate 

 color throughout, slightly paler on lower surface; side of head, includ- 

 ing space around eye, cheeks, forehead, and chin, deep black; wings 

 black except for the base of the tertials, outer webs of the secondaries, 

 and inner webs of inner primaries, which are edged with gray; tail 

 black, except the outer web and distal end of the outer rectrix, which 

 are brownish gray; some of the longer rectrices with a small terminal 

 spot of white. 



Juvenile, in first plumage, dark sooty black, the feathers with a termi- 

 nal spot of light tawny brown; undersurface with the light markings 

 more extensive. 



Adult male, iris dark brown, varying individually in depth of color; 

 external edge of eyelids narrowly dark brown; bill, tongue, and inside 

 of mouth orange; tarsus and toes honey yellow; tips of claws dull neu- 

 tral gray. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Chiriqui), wing 84.5-91.1 (87.9), 

 tail 76.1-80.5 (77.5), culmen from base 14.2-16.5 (15.1), tarsus 20.5- 

 23.2 (21.4) mm. 



Females (10 from Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro), wing 85.8-91.2 

 (89.0), tail 74.1-80.7 (77.3), culmen from base 13.1-16.1 (15.0), tarsus 

 19.5-23.3 (21.1) mm. 



Resident. Found locally in the higher mountain forests in Chiriqui 

 and Bocas del Toro (Rio Changuena, 1975 m, Almirante) ; on the up- 

 per slopes of the Chiriqui volcano from 1200 to 2900 m (fairly com- 

 mon above Boquete and the Bambito-Cerro Punta area) ; in the moun- 

 tains on the upper Rio Changuena, northwestern Bocas del Toro, in 

 heavy forest, down to 750 m; recorded eastward in the mountains of 

 eastern Veraguas (on the Pacific slope at Santa Fe, 830 m, Chitra, 

 1170-1500 m; on the upper Caribbean slope near Calovevora and 

 Cordillera del Chucu). 



There are a few specimens labeled as from lowland localities near 

 sea level. Three collected by Batty from the Pacific Coast islands Brava 

 (January 28, 1902) and Cebaco (February 6, 1902) in the American 



