24O BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



recorded it only near the sea in northeastern Los Santos but it is prob- 

 able that it ranges near the coast down to Punta Mala since the entire 

 region contains suitable habitat. Without much doubt it has increased 

 in abundance on the Atlantic slope of the Canal Zone and in adjacent 

 Colon through the clearing of heavy forest and the appearance of low 

 second growth that covers neglected or abandoned fields. In the early 

 period it was a rare bird in this section. McLeannan seems to have 

 taken few (possibly only 3 in addition to the type) as in his day the 

 Caribbean slope where he worked was mainly heavily forested. It thus 

 seems reasonable to establish the restricted type locality as Frijoles. 

 Galbraith, who assisted in the collecting when the type was secured, 

 noted that it was rare. 



These greenlets are found in the higher thickets and in low trees, 

 more rarely in higher tree tops. Their movements usually are slow 

 and deliberate, with birds pausing quietly to look about. The head often 

 appears large in proportion to the size of the body, so that in profile 

 they sometimes suggest a miniature peppershrike. Occasionally they 

 are more active, somewhat like little warblers, flying up to examine the 

 underside of leaves, and then may be more difficult to follow. The pale- 

 colored eye is the outstanding character that identifies them when they 

 are near at hand. Eisenmann (Condor, 1962, p. 507) describes a distinct 

 whistle, "usually of two notes, repeated interminably, which varies 

 somewhat individually or seasonally. Usually to my ear the call is 

 towhee, towhee, towhee, towhee, repeated unchangingly from five to 

 twenty or more times, without pause." 



It is usual to find this greenlet in pairs, less frequently in groups of 

 3 or 4 individuals that I have supposed might be family parties. Breed- 

 ing pairs were collected in southern Veraguas. On August 16, 1974, 

 Eisenmann saw a fully grown fledgling being fed in a residential sub- 

 urb of Panama city. I have no other information regarding their nest- 

 ing. Eisenmann {op. cit.) says that in the Pacific Coast of Panama 

 "this species is ecologically and geographically sympatric with both 

 Hylophilus aurantiifrons and Vireo flavoviridis. It seems more tolerant 

 of humid conditions than aurantiifrons and less so than flavoviridis, 

 as it occurs in scrubby cleared areas of the rainy Caribbean slope, but in 

 my experience on the mainland, it avoids forest borders. Generally 

 does not forage as high as flavoviridis." 



The stomach of a bird collected by E. A. Goldman on May 24, 1911, 

 at Portobelo, Colon, contained remains of more than 4 spiders 75%, 

 a small hymenopteran fragment 3%, jaw and abdomen of a small black 

 earwig 4%, a blatted ootheca 3%, bits of elytra of a metallic appearing 



