FAMILY VIREON IDAE 



239 



pale brownish white ("flesh color"); tarsus, toes, and claws light 

 mouse brown. Another male, taken March 7, 1962, at El Potrero, 

 Code, had the iris light buffy gray; line of culmen and side of mandible 

 to rami dull brownish white; gonys and underside of mandible light 

 brownish white; gape dull honey yellow; tarsus, toes, and claws pale 

 brown. 



Measurements. — Males (15 from Panama), wing 54.5-58.3 (56.0), 

 tail 44.8-49.8 (47.9), culmen from base 13.1-14.2 (13.6), tarsus 17.6- 

 19.6 (18.7) mm. 



Females (11 from Panama), wing 52.0-54.4 (53.7), tail 44.3-48.0 

 (45.8), culmen from base 13.0-14.1 (13.5), tarsus 18.2-18.7 (18.5) 

 mm. 



Resident. The Scrub Greenlet is found through the Tropical Zone 

 lowlands of the Pacific slope of Panama up to 450 m elevation, but 

 mainly lower, from the Costa Rican boundary through Chiriqui (Di- 

 vala, Bugaba, Concepcion, David, base of Cerro Flores, San Felix), 

 Veraguas (Sona, Rio de Jesus, Santa Fe), Herrera (El Rincon), Los 

 Santos (Monagre), Code (Nata), Panama (Nueva Gorgona, Panama, 

 Chico, Puerto San Antonio on lower Rio Bayano) through the Canal 

 Zone to the Caribbean side (Corozal, Miraflores, Mount Hope, Juan 

 Mina, Empire, Gatun), and adjacent eastern Colon (Colon, Porto- 

 belo). Ridgely (in litt.) saw 1 in a garden adjacent to the Panamonte 

 Hotel in Boquete, Chiriqui (ca. 1000 m) on January 17, 1974; the bird 

 was a full adult with a pale eye and pinkish bill. This race is also found 

 in southwestern Costa Rica. 



In fresh plumage these greenlets are bright yellow-green above and 

 even brighter yellow below, but these vivid colors fade quickly, espe- 

 cially on the upper surface where they become decidedly grayish. The 

 breast and abdomen also become paler. The general appearance then is 

 surprisingly different. It is this that has led to an attempt to separate 

 another race in western Chiriqui under the name pall esc ens (M. E. 

 McClellan Davidson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 45, 1932, p. 

 168). At first it appeared that this was valid, but as more specimens 

 were assembled it became evident that the birds are uniform in char- 

 acter throughout the mainland of Panama. Those of Los Santos and 

 of Colon are similar in every way to a long series of others. 



This greenlet is most frequent as an inhabitant of growths of low 

 scrub, but finds second growth and more open forest also to its liking. 

 The thorny thickets and other fairly open stands of low trees and 

 bushes of the savanna areas are especially suited to its needs and here 

 il is fairly common. On the eastern side of the Azuero Peninsula I 



