FAMILY SYLVIIDAE 



lined with plant fibers. Overhanging leaves above sheltered it from 

 rain." The nest contained 2 speckled eggs. 



The only other description of the nest and eggs is by Kiff (Condor, 

 1977, p. 261-262), who found a pair carrying nesting material near 

 Puerto Viejo, Heredia Province, Costa Rica on April 3, 1971. Placed 

 one-half meter off the ground in a broad-leafed shrub, the nest, when 

 completed, was "an open cup with an exterior diameter of 10 cm. and 

 exterior depth of 15 cm., the inner cup being 5 cm. in diameter and 4 

 cm. deep. The outer walls were composed of green moss, papery bark 

 fragments, leaf petioles, and bits of dead brown dicot leaves, all held 

 together by plant fibers. The inner cup was lined with a soft layer of 

 dead leaf skeletons, plant fibers, and a few strands of fine grass. The 

 nest was attached by slender plant fibers to the trunk of the shrub 

 along one entire vertical surface, and another side was built around a 

 small limb which grew off the trunk at a sharp angle. The overall ap- 

 pearance of the nest was that of a semi-suspended, bulky cup of green 

 moss, partially concealed by the leaves of the shrub." The eggs from 

 this nest measured 18.8x13.8 and 18.5x14.2 mm. They were white 

 "with a liberal sprinkling of fine reddish-brown and dark brown spots 

 over their entire surface, but slightly denser on the larger ends." Kiff 

 considered the nest similar to that of Ramphocaenus and the eggs 

 identical in coloration and shape. 



MICROBATES CINEREIVENTRIS CINEREIVENTRIS (Sclater) 



Ramphocaenus cinereivcntris, Sclater, 1855, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 23, p. 76, 

 pi. 87. ("Pasto," Colombia; Buenaventura substituted by Cory and Hellmayr, 

 1924, p. 212.) 



Characters. — A distinct dark postocular stripe; underparts lighter; 

 dorsum somewhat lighter, more olivaceous, contrasting with the darker 

 crown. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Darien and Colombia), wing 50.0- 

 57.0 (53.0), tail 24.9-30.7 (27.8), culmen from base 17.5-18.8 (18.0), 

 tarsus 19.5-24.4 (22.2) mm. 



Females (10 from Darien and Colombia), wing 49.5-54.5 (51.6), 

 tail 26.7-30.4 (28.1), culmen from base 14.7-18.6 (17.2), tarsus 20.4- 

 22.9 (21.6) mm. 



Resident. Uncommon in Pacific slope lowlands of Darien. De- 

 spite the fact that Cory and Hellmayr (Cat. Birds Americas, 1924, p. 

 212) give the range of this race as extending "from eastern Panama 

 (Tacarcuna) along the Pacific coast of Colombia south to Chimbo, 



