420 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



TANGARA LARVATA FRANCISCAE (Sclater) 



Caliiste franciscae P. L. Sclater, 1856, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 24. p. 142. (Rio 

 David, Chiriqm, Panama.) 



Characters. — Similar to T. I. centralis, but with violet-blue cheeks 

 paler. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Chiriqm, and Veraguas), wing 

 66.8-70.0 (68.6), tail 42.7-47.7 (45.3), oilmen from base 10.9-12.5 

 (11.6), tarsus 15.6-17.3 (16.4) mm. 



Females (10 from Chiriqui and Veraguas), wing 64.5-68.2 (66.6), 

 tail 41.4-46.7 (43.7), oilmen from base 10.6-12.1 (11.6), tarsus 15.2- 

 16.9 (16.3) mm. 



Resident. Common in the foothills on the Pacific slope of Chiriqui 

 and Veraguas, and in adjacent Costa Rica. In Chiriqui, where it ranges 

 into the mountains near Santa Clara and P21 Volcan, it has been found 

 as high as 1500 m, but usually not above 1200 m (Ridgely, 1976, p. 

 318). Aldrich and Bole (Scient. Publ. Cleveland Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 

 7, 1937, p. 24) found it uncommon in semideciduous coastal forest near 

 Montijo Bay, on the Azuero Peninsula of Veraguas. 



When Sclater listed a specimen taken by Bridges "from the tops of 

 the high trees on the banks of the river David" under the name fran- 

 ciscae he used this term as an emendation or correction of the older 

 name fanny of Lafresnaye. However, he compared his specimen with 

 typical larvata of Du Bus and pointed out its characters of color dif- 

 ference. His name, therefore, is valid under the rules of nomenclature. 

 The spelling francescae that has been used by some authors is incorrect. 



Skutch (Pac. Coast Avif, no. 31, 1954, pp. 200-213) has studied 

 this race in Costa Rica, where the several nests he found were placed 

 from less than 2 m to 30 m from the ground, sometimes in a hole or 

 cranny. The nest is a compact cup usually built of fibers and strips of 

 dead leaves, all bound with cobweb, and lined with fibrous material, 

 fungal hyphae, or leaf rachides. Both parents assist in construction, 

 which takes 4 to 6 days. The clutch consists of two eggs. They are "dull 

 white or pale gray, thickly sprinkled all over with brown or chocolate 

 flecks that may be fine or coarse and that are usually heaviest and most 

 crowded on the large end, where they may cover almost the entire sur- 

 face. Some eggs bear also a few black spots, others have the ground 

 color suffused with brown. The measurements of 25 eggs average 20.2 

 by 14.8 millimeters." The incubation period is 13 to 15 days. At hatch- 

 ing the young have pink skin, tightly closed eyes, and sparse gray down; 

 at 10 days they are well feathered. At 14 to 16 days, when they can fly 



