FAMILY TNRAUPIDAE 



463 



sistently distinguishable, due in part to considerable individual vari- 

 ability. 



The Red-crowned Ant-tanager inhabits the undergrowth of wood- 

 land and forest, where it is easily confused with the similar Red- 

 throated Ant-tanager (H. fuscicauda) . Willis (Auk, 1960, pp. 154- 

 155) found that in British Honduras H. rubica usually forages at a 

 higher level in the understory layer of the forest than does H. fusci- 

 cauda and rarely descends to the ground. Ant-tanagers generally travel 

 in pairs, at certain seasons accompanied by their young of the preced- 

 ing year. Willis (Wilson Bull., 1960, p. 105) lists several species with 

 which they sometimes feed. Despite their name, they seldom follow 

 swarms of army ants. Rolled-up, dried leaves are of particular interest 

 to them, and they peer above and below themselves as they move along 

 a branch. The stomach of 1 collected at Cana, Darien, by E. A. Gold- 

 man contained the head and other remains of an otiorhynchid near 

 Lachnopus 5%, fragments of a large cerambycid 13%, a smaller species 

 2%, bits of small scarabaeid 3%, elytron of a curculionid 1%, bits of a 

 large ant 6%, pieces of caterpillar skin 15%, mantis remains 15%, bits 

 of medium-sized millipede 20%, 28 seeds of Solanum sp. 20%. 



Whenever I have encountered this species, it greeted me with a wren- 

 like, scolding chatter. It also has a loud and clear song of phrases like 

 peter, peter, peter or cheer, cheer, cheer repeated at length without 

 pause. Willis, who studied the voice and courtship of this species in 

 British Honduras (Condor, 1960, pp. 73-87), saw that the male raised 

 the bright central crown feathers when singing at dawn. 



The only information on the nesting of this species in Panama is a 

 report (Toucan, vol. 4, no. 9, 1977 pp. 3-4) of a nest in a wooded area 

 of Albrook Air Force Base, Canal Zone, that held 3 young August 13- 

 17, 1977. Skutch (Pac. Coast Avif. no. 31, 1954, pp. 176-182) has 

 studied this race in Costa Rica, where it breeds from February at least 

 to June. The nest is usually placed between 2 and 4 m from the ground; 

 it is a broad and shallow cup made of rootlets and fibers woven so 

 thinly that the eggs may be seen from below. The clutch is two or three 

 eggs, which are "dull white or have a faint bluish tinge and are marked 

 with speckles and blotches of pale brown or cinnamon, sometimes also 

 with chocolate spots, which are gathered in a wreath around the large 

 end and sparingly scattered over the remaining surface." Average 

 measurements are 24.3 X 17.7 mm. Incubation is performed only by the 

 female; Skutch was unable to determine the incubation period. The 

 young hatch with pink skin and sparse, long, gray down; they are fed 

 insects by both parents and have pin feathers by their eighth day. All 



