3IO BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



grass, and fibrous rootlets, and requires 3 to 5 days of construction. 

 Skutch found nests between March 30 and mid-May. 



A week usually elapsed between completion of the nest and laying 

 of the first egg. Eleven nests that Skutch found contained 3 eggs or 

 nestlings, 2 contained 2 eggs each. "The eggs were white or dull white, 

 speckled and blotched with some shade of brown, ranging from bright 

 brown to chocolate. The pigment was heaviest in a wreath about the 

 point of greatest transverse diameter, or in a cap covering the large 

 end . . . The measurements of 20 eggs averaged 17.5 by 13.4 milli- 

 meters" (Skutch, op. cit., p. 362). The incubation period varied from 

 13 to 15 days, and at hatching the nestlings were pink-skinned and 

 blind. By 9 or 10 days of age they were well feathered, and left the nest 

 at 12 to 14 days. By mid- July the young nearly resemble their parents 

 and in October they appear to be mated. While observing the nests 

 of this species, Skutch found that parents would sometimes feign in- 

 jury, fluttering on an open piece of ground near their nest. 



On April 23, 1961, Eisenmann at Nueva Suiza, Chiriqui, ca. 1800 m, 

 saw a pair carrying food to a domed nest on the ground. During this 

 month he heard birds singing tsiree-tsiree-tsiree, tsee-tsee-tsee (lasting 

 about 2 seconds); in late February he noted a different, rather fast 

 tseeoo-tseeoo, cheewep-cheewee-tsee, somewhat suggestive of a song 

 of the American Redstart, but weaker and rather less sweet. In Sep- 

 tember Eisenmann heard the song quoted by Ridgely. It also gives a 

 call, tit-tit-tit-tit, as it flicks open the tail, snappier and louder than a 

 similar call of the Collared Redstart. 



MYIOBORUS MINIATUS BALLUX Wetmore and Phelps 



Myioborus miniatus hallux Wetmore and Phelps, 1944, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash- 

 ington, 57, p. 11. (1,600 m., near Queniquea, Tachira, Venezuela.) 



Characters. — White on outer rectrices more extensive than in M. m. 

 aurantiacus; chestnut crown patch not bordered with black; lighter 

 yellow below. 



A male collected February 22, 1964, at Cerro Mali, Darien, had the 

 iris slightly reddish brown (very dark) ; bill black; tarsus, toes, and 

 claws fuscous-black. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Darien and Colombia), wing 55.0- 

 66.1 (62.0), tail 51.3-62.2 (56.8), culmen from base 10.4-12.9 (11.5), 

 tarsus 14.9-18.4 (16.9) mm. 



Females (10 from Darien and Colombia), wing 57.0-64.0 (60.5), 



