5l8 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



also take nectar from flowers and juice from fruits they pierce. Three 

 collected by Strauch (Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 1977, p. 64) weighed from 

 17.7 to 19.6 g. 



The only information I have on the nesting habits of this species in 

 Panama is Eisenmann's (op. ext., p. 50) note of a female gathering 

 nesting material on July 7, 1950, on Barro Colorado Island, and ob- 

 servations of fledglings being fed on June 11, 1973, and July 18, 1972, 

 at Barro Colorado (Willis and Eisenmann, Smiths. Cont. Zool., 291, 

 1979, p. 26).-Skutch (Condor, 1962, pp. 92-98), in Costa Rica, has 

 seen nests being built as early as April 19 and young being fed as late 

 as early November. The four nests Skutch found were placed among 

 foliage in trees from 3 to 12 m from the ground; the female does all 

 the building, although she is closely followed by her mate. The nest is 

 a shallow, open cup with an outer layer of leaves, sometimes bound by 

 spider webs, that makes the nest look like a cluster of dead leaves; in- 

 ner layers are of smaller leaves, rachides, tendrils, and other vegetable 

 fibers. One nest measured 8 cm in diameter by 5 cm in height; the in- 

 terior was 5 cm in diameter and 2 cm deep. 



The two eggs that form a clutch are white, with a wreath of brown 

 spots on the large end. The incubation period is 13 days. At hatching 

 the young have red mouth linings. Skutch was not able to follow the 

 activities at any nest until the time of fledging, but he saw that the 

 young are fed by both parents, although possibly more by the female. 



DAGNIS CAYANA (Linnaeus): Blue Dacnis, Mielero Turquesa 



Motacilla cayana Linnaeus, 1766, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, 1, p. 336. (Cayenne.) 



Small; male bright blue with black lores, throat, upper back, wings, 

 and tail; female bright green with head greenish blue. Bill rather short; 

 legs brown. 



Description. — Length 105-121 mm. Adult male, lores, orbital ring, 

 and area just behind eye, and upper back, black; throat dull blackish; 

 rest of body light turquoise-blue (D. c. callaina) or bright ultramarine- 

 blue (D. c. ultramarina) , slightly lighter on undersurface; wings and 

 tail black, with feathers edged blue; wing coverts dark gray. 



Adult female, head greenish blue; throat light greenish blue to bluish 

 gray; rest of body bright yellowish grass green, slightly darker on up- 

 per back; wings black, with lesser coverts darker greenish blue, rest of 

 coverts and remiges edged green; tail blackish with central pair edged 

 green; underwing coverts light gray. 



The Blue Dacnis inhabits second growth and forest borders chiefly 



