FAMILY COEREBIDAE 



523 



black; rest of crown, nape, sides of head and neck, and upper surface 

 rich turquoise-blue; thighs scarlet. 



Adult female, upper surface dull, dark greenish olive, tinged with 

 turquoise-green, especially on lower back and rump (where bluer), 

 scapulars and sides of head turquoise-green; wings and tail dusky, with 

 feathers narrowly edged turquoise-green; throat and breast light buffy 

 grayish, becoming buffy yellowish on belly and buff on vent and under- 

 tail coverts; thighs tinged with red; underwing coverts gray. 



Juvenile, like female, but duller and grayer above with little or no 

 blue tones. 



Figure 40. — Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Mielero Patirrojo, Dacnis venusta, male. 



The Scarlet-thighed Dacnis is found in the humid foothills on both 

 slopes of Panama and in the humid lowlands, especially on the Carib- 

 bean slope and on the Pacific slope of eastern Panama, although breed- 

 ing in the western lowlands is not certain (Ridgely, 1976, p. 290) . Two 

 races occur in Panama. The species ranges from Costa Rica to north- 

 western Ecuador. It inhabits forests and forest borders, where it feeds 

 mainly on berries (Skutch, Condor, 1962, pp. 104-105). At El Volcan, 

 Chiriqui, I saw several feeding on the pendant flower stems of the 

 guarumo tree (Pourouma aspera) on March 15, 1965. One that I col- 

 lected from the group had eaten figs. Of 5 taken by E. A. Goldman at 

 Cana, Darien, in June 1912, none contained more than 30 percent 



