526 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



41), and at Jaque by myself. A series collected in easternmost coastal 

 San Bias at Perme and Obaldia by H. von Wedel between 1929 and 

 1931 is "obviously intermediate, but on the whole nearer fuliginata" 

 than nominate venusta (Griscom, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 72, 

 1932, p. 367). These two races are in any case very poorly differen- 

 tiated. The female I collected at Jaque on March 19, 1946, was incu- 

 bating, but I have no other information on the nesting habits of this 

 race. 



Family FRINGILLIDAE: Finches, Gorriones y Pinzones 



Forty-five members of the family Fringillidae have been found in 

 Panama. Following Raikow (Bull. Carnegie Mus. Nat. Hist. no. 7, 

 1978, p. 41), the Cardinalinae, Emberizinae, and Carduelinae are 

 treated as subgroups of a single family, Fringillidae. The subfamilies 

 are represented in Panama as follows: 12 Cardinalinae, 31 Emberi- 

 zinae, 2 Carduelinae. The species found in Panama include 7 regular or 

 occasional migrants from North America. The Grasshopper Sparrow 

 (Ammodramus savannarum) is known from both resident populations 

 and a few records of a migrant North American race. 



Most members of this family, excepting the grosbeaks, are found on 

 or near the ground in forest and second-growth thickets or in weedy 

 fields. Finches feed primarily on seeds, although most species give in- 

 sects to their young, and the grosbeaks and saltators take considerable 

 amounts of fruit. Many Panamanian finches are accomplished vo- 

 calists. The nest of nearly all species is an open cup, placed on the 

 ground or within a few meters of it in grasses, a shrub, or a tree; a few 

 species build domed nests with an entrance on the side. 



KEY TO SPECIES OF FRINIGILLIDAE : SPARROWS AND FINCHES 



1. Undersurface with yellow or yellowish green 2 



Undersurface without any yellow or yellowish green 16 



2. Throat black 3 



Throat yellow, yellowish green, or white 8 



3. Small, less than 110 mm 4 



Larger, more than 110 mm. 



male Yellow-bellied Siskin, Carduelis xanthogastra xanthogastra. p. 618 



4. Crown yellowish or reddish brown 5 



Crown with extensive black 6 



5. Crown yellowish. 



Black-faced Grosbeak, Caryothraustes canadensis, p. 541 

 Crown reddish brown. 



Sooty-faced Finch, Lysurus castaneiceps. p. 597 



