FAMILY THRAUPIDAE 



403 



Description. — Length 82-96 mm. Adult male, forecrown yellow; 

 sides of head, throat, upper breast, and rest of upper surface, including 

 wing coverts, glossy very dark blue; remiges black with outer webs 

 edged very dark blue, and white patch on basal half of inner webs; 

 rectrices black with outer webs edged very dark blue and white patch 

 on inner web of outermost (sometimes 2 outermost) pair; rest of 

 undersurface rich yellow, with wash of orange-brown on center of 

 belly and on undertail coverts; underwing coverts white. 



Adult female, forecrown brown; rest of upper surface, including 

 wing coverts, glossy yellowish green; crown and upper back tinged 

 green-blue slate; remiges and rectrices dusky, edged greenish yellow; 

 undersurface greenish yellow, slightly brighter on throat, except for 

 wash of orange-brown from center of lower breast to undertail coverts; 

 underwing coverts white. 



A male collected at El Real, Darien, on January 24, 1964, had the iris 

 dark brown; maxilla and tip of mandible black; base of mandible bluish 

 neutral gray; tarsus and toes dark neutral gray; claws black. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Panama), wing 50.5-55.2 (52.7), 

 tail 26.2-31.8 (29.4), culmen from base 9.1-10.6 (9.8), tarsus 12.9-14.8 

 (13.9) mm. 



Females (10 from Panama), wing 50.0-57.0 (53.1), tail 27.3-32.2 

 (28.8), culmen from base 8.6-10.3 (9.5), tarsus 12.3-14.8 (13.9) mm. 



Resident. Common in lowlands on both slopes from central Pan- 

 ama eastward. On the Caribbean slope 1 have collected it as far west 

 as El Uracillo, Code and Chilar, Colon; on the Pacific side I know of 

 no recent records west of Cerro Campana, Province of Panama, where 

 it ranges up into the foothills (Ridgely, 1976, p. 315). Arce collected 

 specimens in Chiriqui at Bugaba and Volcan de Chiriqui (Salvin and 

 Godman, Biol. Centr.-Amer., Aves, vol. 1 (pt. 26), 1883, p. 264) and 

 there is another Arce specimen in the Smithsonian marked "Veragua, 

 1875"; these old specimens in the British Museum may, on reexami- 

 nation, however, prove to be either E. imitans or E. gouldi. To the east, 

 the range of this race extends into northern Choco, Colombia; other 

 races occur in Colombia and in northwestern Ecuador. 



This euphonia inhabits forest, forest borders, and clearings. It is 

 usually found in small groups that may include other species: I once 

 saw one in heavy forest at Jaque, Darien, with a flock of White-flanked 

 Antwrens (Myrmotherula axillaris), and another time, at Chilar, 

 Colon, I took 1 with a pair of Euphonia luteicapilla. The Fulvous- 

 vented Euphonia often forages in the undergrowth and lower levels of 

 trees, below the usual levels of other euphonias. It takes many mistle- 



