FAMILY THRAUPIDAE 



407 



Adult female; forecrown reddish brown; rest of crown, back, and 

 rump glossy olive-green, tinged bluish; upper tail coverts dark yellow; 

 lesser wing coverts like back, others dark yellow; remiges and rectrices 

 dusky blackish with outer webs edged dark yellow; sides of head and 

 undersurface yellowish green, except for reddish brown center of belly 

 to undertail coverts; underwing coverts white. 



Measurements. — Males (8 from Chiriqui and Costa Rica), wing 

 56.0-62.9 (59.9), tail 29.5-33.2 (31.9), culmen from base 9.9-11.8 

 (10.5), tarsus 14.2-16.4 (15.2) mm. 



Females (10 from Chiriqui and Costa Rica), wing 54.6-59.6 (57.8), 

 tail 25.6-32.4 (28.9), culmen from base 9.0-11.4 (10.0), tarsus 14.3- 

 16.0 (15.3) mm. 



Resident. Rare in the lowlands and foothills of western Chiriqui, 

 where it has been collected at Divala, Bugaba, and Boqueron in the 

 lowlands and at 1200 m on Cerro Pando and at El Volcan; found also 

 on the Pacific slope of Costa Rica, where, in some localities at least, it 

 is common. It inhabits forests and forest borders, rarely coming into 

 clearings with trees. Ridgely (in litt.) found a pair at Santa Clara 

 (1300 m), Chiriqui, on March 22, 1979. The birds remained in lower 

 growth of forest edge and out short distances into overgrown clearing. 

 The birds' treenh, treenh call sounded to Ridgely identical to that of E. 

 fulvicrissa. 



Skutch (Publ. Nutt. Orn. Club, no. 10, 1972, pp. 188-198), who has 

 observed this species extensively in Costa Rica, found that it forages 

 for insects high in trees on mossy branches and among dead leaves 

 caught in vine tangles, and also takes many berries from Lycianthes 

 synanthera, Calliandra similis, and plants of the genus Piper. It also 

 feeds on nectar. On sunny days in the beginning of the dry season this 

 euphonia is particularly vocal; the male has a song that is a medley of 

 clear and burry notes with some soft or warbled notes occasionally 

 mixed in. The female also sings from time to time, and has several 

 churring and rattling calls. Skutch found nests from March to June. 

 They were placed 2 to 8 m from the ground and usually hidden in a 

 dense growth of moss and epiphytes against a trunk or limb. The nest 

 itself is a globe built of moss, rootlets, and epiphytic ferns, lined with 

 fine fibrous material; the entrance is on the side. Both sexes work on 

 construction. The clutch consists of three, or less often, two eggs that 

 are white or pinkish white, speckled and blotched various shades of 

 brown, usually more heavily on the broader end. The measurements of 

 13 eggs averaged 1 2.8 X 19.7 mm. At one nest the incubation period was 



