FAMILY FRINGILLIDAE 



589 



with fine blackish streaks; rest of undersurface tinged light brown, 

 with fine black streaks. 



This brush-finch is very common in the highlands of Chiriqui and 

 Veraguas and is also known from Code and the Azuero Peninsula. It 

 inhabits shrubby clearings and forest borders; I have usually seen it 

 when it emerges from the vegetation to forage on more open ground. 

 It is found in pairs or small groups. I have seen these birds feeding on 

 berries, and they probably take insects from the leaf litter as well. Its 

 high, squeaky song is usually delivered from a low, inconspicuous 

 perch. 



Two races are found in Panama, brunnescens from Chiriqui pre- 

 sumably to Code, and the well-marked azuerensis of the Azuero Penin- 

 sula in Veraguas and Los Santos. Five other races range from Mexico 

 to Colombia. Paynter (Auk, 1964, pp. 223-224) indicates that the races 

 from southwestern Chiapas, Mexico, to Colombia, that formerly went 

 under the name A. guttural is, should be treated as part of A. albi- 

 nucha, a yellow-bellied form of the Caribbean slope of Mexico. 



ATLAPETES ALBINUCHA BRUNNESCENS Chapman 



Atlopetcs gutturalis brunnescens Chapman, 1915, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 



34, p. 387. (Boquete, Chiriqui, Panama.) 

 Atlapetcs gutturalis coloratus Griscom, 1924, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 141, p. 9. 



(Cerro Flores, 3,600 ft., eastern Chiriqui, Panama.) 



Characters. — Undersurface almost entirely white; flanks and un- 

 dertail coverts grayish with little brown; upper surface blackish gray. 



A male collected at El Volcan, Chiriqui, on March 9, 1965, had the 

 iris bright reddish brown; bill black; tarsus and toes dark mouse 

 brown; claws dull brownish neutral gray. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from western Chiriqui), wing 72.5-81.0 

 (76.3), tail 80.2-85.5 (83.0), oilmen from base 15.2-17.1 (16.2), tar- 

 sus 24.1-28.7 (26.5) mm. 



Females (10 from western Chiriqui), wing 72.1-76.5 (73.8), tail 

 76.7-81.8 (78.8), culmen from base 15.4-17.4 (16.6), tarsus 24.4-28.5 

 (26.5) mm. 



Resident. Common in the highlands of Veraguas and Chiriqui, 

 where it has been collected on Cerro Punta, Volcan de Chiriqui, and 

 near Boquete. On the Volcan de Chiriqui I have encountered it between 

 1230 and 2040 m, and near Boquete it has been taken from 1050 to 

 2100 m. 



The poorly marked race coloratus was described by Griscom from 



