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7

Dacnis, Apr. 26, 1960, II    

This [[male symbol]] seem to be in completely adult plumage. His utterance of a warbling song is, therefore, rather surprising. Is this species more "primitive" than [[?]] [[?]]. 

I shouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be another comparatively strongly hostile species. I notice that this [[male symbol]] and always or almost always feed separately.  The [[male symbol]] usually goes down to the food dish & eats, while the [[female symbol]] remains up on a perch. Then, when the [[male symbol]] has finished and leaves the food dish, the [[female symbol]] goes down and eats.

The [[male symbol]] has spent a lot of time hopping or "creeping" up and down the wire-netting sides of his cage, apparently looking for [[?]]. This species may be more of a "creeper" than the other tanager-honeycreepers.

Dacnis I.  

April 27, 1960
Barro Colorado

I watched my captive pair of Blue Darnises (which I shall call pair "A") this morning, in their small separate cage. Nothing at all interesting. So then I put them down in a large outside cage, 30 ft long, with 3 [[male symbol]] and 3 [[female symbol]] Red-legged Blue Honeycreepers.

When these A Dacnises were put in the new cage, they provoked a little hostility from the Honeycreepers (see today's notes on [[?]] Both the [[male symbol]] and the [[male symbol]] Darnises were supplanted, several times, by one or more of the [[female symbol]] Honeycreepers. Neither Dacnises offered the slightest resistance or displayed in any way when supplanted. This might suggest that the Honeycreeper is the dominant species - a point of some interest in connection with the integration of mixed flocks.

Both Darnises began to creep up & down the trunks and branches of beeches almost as soon as they were put in their new cage. And then