FAMILY THRAUPIDAE 



393 



species in Costa Rica, observed that they feed mainly on fruit, and 

 when not nesting, move about in small flocks of not more than a dozen, 

 in which females and immature-plumaged males outnumber males in 

 adult plumage. As with some of the euphonias, males breed before they 

 acquire the adult plumage — half the nests Skutch found were attended 

 by males in "immature" plumage. 



The nest is a roofed structure, with a round entrance on the side, 

 made of mosses, rootlets, and spider webs; both male and female con- 

 tribute equally to its construction. It is placed high in a tree, from 12 to 

 at least 35 m from the ground, usually on branches covered with moss 

 and epiphytes. Skutch found pairs with adult-plumaged males building 

 in March and those with immature-plumaged males building as late as 

 the end of May. As mentioned above, the female I collected on March 

 4, 1955, in Chiriqui was about to lay. The female lays at least three eggs 

 and does all the incubation herself. The young are fed by both parents 

 for about 23 days, until their departure from the nest, when they are 

 closely accompanied by their parents. The food fed the nestlings is 

 regurgitated and could not be identified by Skutch. At one of the nests 

 begun in March, the young left May 21, and 2 weeks later a pair of 

 chlorophonias, presumably the same one, occupied the nest again and 

 reared another brood, which departed July 15. 



EUPHONIA MUSICA ELEGANTISSIMA (Bonaparte): Blue-hooded 

 Euphonia, Tanagra Capuchiazul 



Pipra elegantissima Bonaparte, 1838, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 5 (1837), p. 112. 

 (Mexico.) 



Very small; male, light blue crown and nape; rest of upper surface 

 and throat very dark blue; rest of undersurface brownish orange; fe- 

 male, crown, and nape light blue; rest of body green, more yellowish 

 on undersurface. 



Description. — Length 100-112 mm. Adult male, forecrown tawny, 

 with narrow border of very dark blue; remiges and rectrices blackish, 

 secondaries edged very dark blue; rest of crown and nape light blue, 

 extending in a thin line to sides of breast; rest of upper surface, in- 

 cluding wing coverts, very dark blue; remiges and rectrices blackish, 

 secondaries edged very dark blue; throat and sides of head very dark 

 blue; rest of undersurface ochraceous-orange, slightly darker on up- 

 per breast and abdomen and undertail coverts; underwing coverts 

 white. 



Adult female, forecrown tawny, with a narrow dusky border; rest 

 of crown and nape light blue, extending in a thin line to sides of breast; 



