FAMILY FRINGILLIDAE 



537 



held 3 or more enormous red ants 93%, coleoptera remains 1%, 12 

 seeds and other fragments of Solatium sp. 5%, one indeterminate seed 

 1%. I have seen it eat the flowers of morning glories and legumes. 

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

 from 35.3 to 43.9 g; an immature taken in April weighed 28.6 g. 



The Streaked Saltator's song is a series of loud, sweet whistles; one 

 version is chee-oo, chee-oo, chee-oo, cheeeee-oo (Eisenmann, Smiths. 

 Misc. Coll., vol. 117, no. 5, 1952, p. 57). It is usually delivered from 

 a perch, but Skutch (Pac. Coast Avif. no. 31, 1954, pp. 82-83) has 

 witnessed the bird singing in flight, when, usually at dusk, it may rise 

 from 10 to 100 m over the ground. In normal flight it utters notes 

 sounding like qua qua qua, and also has a sharp tseek. 



SALTATOR ALBICOLLIS FURAX Bangs and Penard 



Saltator striatipictus furax Bangs and Penard, 1919, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 63, 

 p. 32. (near Boruca, western Costa Rica.) 



Characters. — Undersurface most strongly tinged with yellow, with 

 the streaking heavier and more definitely green. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Chiriqui), wing 83.0-93.8 (89.5), 

 tail 73.7-91.4 (84.2), oilmen from base 18.3-20.5 (19.5), tarsus 20.7- 

 24.7 (22.8) mm. 



Females (6 from Chiriqui and Costa Rica), wing 83.0-89.0 (85.9), 

 tail 76.7-85.9 (80.7), culmen from base 19.2-20.6 (20.0), tarsus 21.1- 

 24.2 (22.8) mm. 



Resident. Common in western Chiriqui, where it has been collected 

 at David, Conception, Sereno, Cerro Punta, Boquete, Volcan de Chiri- 

 qui, and as far east as San Felix. At Cerro Punta, I found a small 

 group at 1740 m on March 5, 1954. This race is also found in adjacent 

 northwestern Costa Rica. 



The nests and eggs of Costa Rican birds agree with those described 

 below for the race isthmicus in central Panama (Skutch, Pac. Coast 

 Avif. no. 31, 1954, pp. 83-87). Incubation is performed entirely by 

 the female and probably requires 13 or 14 days. The young are fed by 

 both parents and leave the nest at 13 days; the parents continue to feed 

 them until the young are fully grown. 



SALTATOR ALBICOLLIS ISTHMICUS Sclater 



Saltator isthmicus P. L. Sclater, 1861, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 130. (Isthmus 

 of Panama.) 



Characters. — Strongly tinged greenish below, with the streaks more 

 olive than dark gray; flanks and undertail coverts distinctly buffy; the 

 entire undersurface less strongly white. 



