412 



BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



Three races of this species have been described. Salvin and Godman 

 (Biol. Centr.-Amer., Aves, vol. 1, 1883, p. 267), after receiving speci- 

 mens from Arce, added Veraguas to the range of the nominate form, 

 which was originally described from a bird sent from Costa Rica. Ridg- 

 way (Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., vol. 3, 1901, p. 149) described a race 

 arcaei from another specimen collected by Arce labeled "Veragua"; 

 this has proven to be only a male that had not yet acquired the yellow 

 patch on the crown (Hellmayr, op. ext.). In 1914, Chapman (Bull. 

 Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 33, pp. 188) described a race auriceps from 

 Narino, Colombia, whose most distinctive character was having the 

 yellow on the crown more extensive; when Hellmayr examined a speci- 

 men from Tacarcuna he found it intermediate between auriceps and 

 florida and provisionally assigned it to the former, "mainly out of zoo- 

 geographical considerations." More recently, Eisenmann (Haffer, 

 Amer. Mus. Novit, no. 2294, 1967, p. 46) has observed that the popu- 

 lation from the Serrania del Darien west to Cerro Azul is also inter- 

 mediate. In the more extensive series now available there are birds 

 from Tacarcuna that are indistinguishable from Costa Rican speci- 

 mens and it seems most likely that the characters of auriceps are due to 

 individual variation, so that no races of the species are admitted here. 



Little has been recorded on the biology of the Emerald Tanager. 

 Ridgely (op. cit.) notes that it is "usually seen in small numbers, feed- 

 ing quite high in the trees, generally accompanying large mixed flocks 

 of other frugivous birds." Hilty (Wilson Bull., 1974, p. 480) observed 

 1 attending an ant swarm in Colombia, a rather unusual occurrence for 

 a species that usually feeds high in trees; several Silver-Throated Tan- 

 agers (T. icterocephala) , with which the Emerald Tanager may have 

 been moving, were also in attendance. 



TANGARA GUTTATA EUSTICTA Todd: Speckled Tanager, 

 Tangaro Salpicado 



Tangara guttata eusticta Todd, 1912, Ann. Carnegie Mus., 8, p. 202. (Boruca, 

 Costa Rica.) 



Small; upper surface mostly black with extensive green edges on 

 feathers, creating scaled appearance; throat and breast feathers black, 

 edged pale blue-green; belly and abdomen white. 



Description. — Length 116-130 mm. Adult (sexes alike) , lores black; 

 superciliary and orbital ring bright yellow; crown and upper back 

 black, with feathers edged bright yellow-green, producing scaled ap- 

 pearance; lower back through upper tail coverts bright yellow-green; 

 wings black, with outer web of remiges edged turquoise-green; rec- 



