FAMILY ICTERIDAE 



347 



wings black with patch of rich yellow on central coverts, often partially 

 concealed; tail black with basal quarter of feathers paler yellow. 



Adult female, like male, but smaller, and black duller, tinged with 

 olive below. 



A male collected at Canita, Province of Panama, on February 7, 

 1962, had the iris light blue; bill dark ivory-yellow with a very narrow 

 line of neutral gray around entire base, faintest on lower border of 

 mandibular rami; tarsus, toes, and claws fuscous-black. A female 

 taken at Juan Mina, Canal Zone, on January 11, 1961, had the iris light 

 blue; bill yellow, shading to very pale grayish white at tip; tarsus and 

 toes fuscous-brown. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Panama), wing 168.5-183.0 

 (175.3), tail 109.5-118.5 (115.2), oilmen from base 36.0-40.5 (39.1), 

 tarsus 31.4-34.3 (33.2) mm. 



Females (10 from Panama), wing 120.0-140.1 (130.8), tail 88.5- 

 97.0 (92.9), oilmen from base 31.6-34.2 (32.5) , tarsus 27.5-32.2 (29.4) 

 mm. 



Resident. Fairly common in forest, second-growth woodlands, 

 borders, and clearing in the lowlands. Most numerous in Darien and 

 the Rio Bayano Valley of eastern Province of Panama. On the Pacific 

 slope found from Sona (Bangs, Proc. New Fngland Zool. Club, vol. 3, 

 1902, p. 64) and Paracote (Aldrich, Scient. Publ. Cleveland Mus. Nat. 

 Hist., vol. 7, 1937, p. 127), Veraguas, east to Colombia, and on the 

 Caribbean slope eastward from the Rio Indio in western Colon. In the 

 lowlands of the Canal Zone area, it extends across the Isthmus, and in 

 Darien it has been collected as high as 540 m by E. A. Goldman at 

 Cana, on May 22, 1912. In March 1981, Ridgely {in litt.) found it at 

 Cana up to 700 m. This race is also found in northern Colombia; other 

 races occur as far south as northern Bolivia and central Brazil. 



The Panama form, vitellinus (Lawrence's Cacique), was formerly 

 considered specifically distinct from the Amazonian and Guianan C. 

 cela cela, from which it differs in the lesser extent of, but richer, yellow 

 in the wings and tail. The nominate race is well known throughout its 

 range as a mimic of other birds and of the sounds of mechanical ob- 

 jects; this is unreported for vitellinus. In Venezuela nominate cela 

 is often caged because of its vocal abilities. 



The Yellow-rumped Cacique resembles the oropendolas in many 

 ways, and sometimes nests in the same trees with them, although usually 

 in a group somewhat removed. Like the oropendolas, it feeds high in 

 trees, where it is often difficult to observe. Once at Canita, Panama, I 

 was able to see a flock well enough to note that the birds were eating 



