576 



BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 4 



land birds in having definitely larger bills ( Wetmore, Smith. Misc. Coll. 

 no. 4295, 1957, p. 102; Olson, Auk, 1981, pp. 379-381). Although it 

 seems probable that they represent a distinct island subspecies, this mat- 

 ter can only be decided when more material becomes available. 



The Lesser Seed-finch inhabits shrubby areas and woodland edges. 

 I have found it occasionally in swampy woods and once on a little man- 

 grove island at Almirante. It feeds singly or in pairs, but sometimes 

 associates with flocks of seedeaters; usually it is far more arboreal 

 than most other species of Sporophila, singing at times from more than 

 10 m off the ground in a tree. The seed-finch is also distinguished from 

 seedeaters by a nervous habit of flitting its wings and tail. One col- 

 lected by E. A. Goldman had the stomach filled with fragments of hard- 

 shelled grass seeds of the genus Olyra. Three specimens collected by 

 Strauch (Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 1977, p. 65) weighed from 12.8 to 13.9 

 g. The song of this species is a long, sweet warble resembling that of 

 an Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanella) ; the song is usually given from 

 a prominent perch. I have also heard the male give a call that sounded 

 like chupo-chupo. 



SPOROPHILA ANGOLENSIS SALVINI (Ridgway) 



Oryzoborus salvini Ridgway, 1884, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 6, p. 401. (Los Sabalos, 

 Nicaragua.) 



Characters. — Females and subadult males much more richly colored 

 than any of the other subspecies; underparts, particularly of the sub- 

 adult males, deep reddish chestnut. 



Measurements. — Males (4 from Nicaragua), wing 53.9-55.0 (54.5), 

 tail 50.0-54.9 (52.5), culmen from base 13.8-14.4 (14.0), tarsus 15.6- 

 16.5 (16.0) mm. 



Females (6 from Bocas del Toro and Nicaragua), wing 54.0-56.3 

 (55.3), tail 48.0-53.8 (51.6), culmen from base 13.3-15.0 (14.2), tarsus 

 15.3-16.5 (15.8) mm. 



Resident. Known in Panama from Almirante and Changuinola in 

 Bocas del Toro, and Guabal, on the Rio Calovevora, Veraguas. Found 

 also from all but extreme southwestern Costa Rica to southern Nica- 

 ragua. Two specimens from Boruca, Costa Rica, and that from 

 Changuinola, while nearest salvini appear to show signs of intergrada- 

 tion with the following subspecies. Specimens of the race salvini are 

 instantly separable from those of the rest of the country by their much 

 richer coloration. The subspecies salvini and ochrogyne exhibit a pat- 



