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BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



[PARULA AMERICANA (LinnaeusJ: Northern Parula, Reinita Nortena 



Partis americanus Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, p. 190. (South Carolina.) 



There are two recent sightings of this species, both from Galeta 

 Island, Canal Zone: one was found there by J. Pujals and others on 

 January 21, 1976, the other was seen on March 4, 1977, by Pujals and 

 S. Stokes (Ridgely, in litt.). Both appeared to be adult males. Pujals 

 reports that on March 4, 1977, when he saw the Northern Parula, he 

 also saw a Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum) , a species whose 

 tropical winter range is also mainly in the West Indies. The Northern 

 Parula normally winters in Florida, the West Indies, Mexico, and 

 Central America south to Nicaragua.] 



PARULA PITIAYUMI (Vieillot): Tropical Parula, Reinita Mariquita 



Sylvia pitiayumi Vieillot, 1817, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., ed., 11, p. 276. (Paraguay.) 



Very small; upper surface dull, dark blue; most of undersurface 

 rich yellow with throat and breast brownish orange. 



Description. — Length 88-110 mm. Adult (sexes alike), lores, sides 

 of head dull indigo blue to bluish slate gray, except for triangular olive- 

 green patch in center of back; extent, if any, of white tipping on mid- 

 dle and greater wing coverts varying geographically; rectrices black 

 with outer webs edged blue and broad subterminal patch of white on 

 the inner web of two outermost pairs; throat and breast deep orange- 

 ochraceous; sides and flanks blue; rest of undersurface to undertail 

 coverts rich lemon yellow; undertail coverts white; underwing coverts 

 white. 



Parula pitiayumi is one of the most widely distributed of the tropical 

 warblers, although its range is discontinuous and the bird is often ab- 

 sent from humid lowland forest areas; it breeds from southern Texas 

 south through Mexico, Central America, Panama, and in South Amer- 

 ica from Colombia to the Guianas, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, and north- 

 ern Argentina. Fourteen races are recognized, of which 3 occur in 

 Panama — speciosa in lower highlands and foothills of western Panama, 

 cirrha on Isla Coiba off Veraguas, and nana in the lowlands and lower 

 foothills of eastern Province of Panama and Darien. In Panama, the 

 Tropical Parula is a bird of tall forest, but elsewhere, in southern Texas 

 and eastern Venezuela and the chaco of southern South America, for 

 example, it inhabits low, dry woodlands, and in the Cauca Valley of 

 Colombia it lives in semi-arid cultivated valleys with scattered trees. It 

 is a very active feeder, reminiscent of the Northern Parula. It often 

 feeds in flowering trees. I have sometimes seen them with flocks of 



