5IO BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



another female, taken February 10, 1958, at Almirante, Bocas del Toro, 

 the tarsi and upper surface of the toes were light green, with a narrow 

 yellow line down the back of the tarsus; the undersurface of the toes 

 was yellow. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Panama), wing 50.0-55.6 (53.2), 

 tail 25.5-29.9 (27.6), culmen from base 16.2-20.4 (18.3), tarsus 12.7- 

 14.5 (13.7) mm. 



Females (10 from Panama and Costa Rica), wing 51.5-56.0 (53.5), 

 tail 24.2-31.4 (27.8), culmen from base 16.0-18.8 (17.9), tarsus 12.7- 

 15.4 (14.4) mm. 



Resident. Common in the foothills of both slopes and not infre- 

 quently in the humid lowlands, especially of the Caribbean slope and 

 also in eastern Province of Panama. Ridgely {in litt.) saw a pair near 

 Contractor's Hill, on the Pacific slope of the Canal Zone, on July 8, 

 1975. On the Volcan de Chiriqui, Monniche (Blake, Fieldiana: Zool., 

 vol. 36, no. 5, 1958, p. 556) collected it between 1560 and 1590 m, and 

 on the Boquete Trail, Bocas del Toro. Kennard (Kennard and Peters, 

 Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 38, 1928, p. 462) took a male at 900 

 m on March 17, 1926. Aldrich and Bole (Scient. Publ. Cleveland Mus. 

 Nat. Hist., vol. 7, 1937, p. 25) found it uncommon in rain forest be- 

 tween 300 and 900 m on the western side of the Azuero Peninsula. I 

 have found this honeycreeper at Almirante, Bocas del Toro; at Tigre 

 (475 m), at the head of the Rio Guabal in Code; in the Province of 

 Panama at the Peluca Hydrographic Station, Cerro Azul (600 m), and 

 Cerro Chucanti (360 m) in the Serrania de Maje; and at Armila, San 

 Bias. In Darien it has been collected at Cana, Tacarcuna, and Mt. Sapo 

 (Bond and de Schauensee, Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Mon. no. 6, 

 1944, p. 41). Beyond Panama, this race is found in extreme north- 

 western Colombia and in Costa Rica. The range of the nominate race 

 extends north to southern Mexico. 



The Shining Honeycreeper usually feeds high in forest trees, where 

 it takes nectar from flowers, seeds, and berries, and picks insects off 

 flowers, vines, and branches. Skutch (Publ. Nutt. Orn. Club, no. 10, 

 1972, pp. 164-172), who has observed this species in Costa Rica, noted 

 that it seems especially fond of arils, the fleshy or oily outer coats of the 

 seeds of many trees. This species is often a member of mixed species 

 flocks. Moynihan (Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 143, no. 7, 1962, pp. 56- 

 57) noted that on Barro Colorado Island, Canal Zone, where he found 

 them common at times, Shining Honeycreepers more often joined 

 flocks composed mainly of other honeycreepers rather than those domi- 

 nated by tanagers; the only species that provoked unusually strong re- 



