FAMILY THRAUPIDAE 



471 



is well marked; it would be interesting to know if this species does in 

 fact occur in the intervening areas and what such populations look like. 

 The species as a whole ranges from Honduras to northern Bolivia and 

 central Brazil. 



This tanager inhabits humid second-growth woodland, forest and 

 forest borders. In groups of 3 to 6 it is often a part of mixed foraging 

 flocks; I have seen it feeding at all heights, by itself, with other native 

 birds, (typically Lesser Greenlets and shrike-vireos) and with groups 

 of migrant warblers, including Bay-breasted and Chestnut-sided War- 

 blers. A pair I observed at El Uracillo, Code, was feeding on berries 

 in second growth. When the males display, they puff up the white wing 

 coverts to the point where the rest of the body is often obscured. Oc- 

 casionally, I have been scolded by a male displaying like this and flicking 

 its wings. Its only vocalizations are a series of tsir or tsit notes. Three 

 collected by Strauch (Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 1977, p. 65) weighed from 

 13.3 to 15.0 g. 



The only descriptions of the nest and eggs I have are from Trinidad 

 (Belcher and Smooker, Ibis, 1937, pp. 538-539) where Smooker found 

 two nests: "The first, at the Heights of Oropuche, northern range, 4 

 April, 1925, was a fairly deep cup of dried grasses lined with fine fibres: 

 it was placed in a tangle of undergrowth five feet from the ground. 

 There were three fresh eggs. They are roundish-ovals, slightly glossy, 

 marked on a ground of rich buff with spots and blotches of two shades 

 of rich reddish-brown placed unevenly over the surface, but predomi- 

 nating at the larger end. Average: 20 X 16.4 mm. The second nest was 

 collected 3 June, 1931, near Valencia, a few miles south of the other and 

 at a lower level; the nest was similarly built and was placed in a small 

 bush at three feet from the ground. The eggs, however, differ con- 

 siderably. They have the ground-colour pale creamy-white, with a few 

 specks, spots, and streaks and an occasional blotch of blackish-brown, 

 and faint undermarkings of pale grey. They are rounded, and the shell 

 glossy. Incubation had begun. Average 19.1 X 15.8 mm." 



TACHYPHONUS LUCTUOSUS NITIDISSIMUS Salvin 



Tachyphonus nitidissimus Salvin, 1870, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 188. (Bugaba, 

 Chiriqui, Panama.) 



CJwracters. — Male, white on wing restricted as in axillaris; a crown- 

 patch of yellow to orange; base of mandible conspicuously light-colored. 

 Female like axillaris in general, but more yellowish green above and 

 somewhat brighter yellow below. 



