Part 107

"Ten males from Busuanga measure, 238 in length (exclusive of rackets, which may attain a length of 60 to 75); wing, 154; tail, 77; culmen, 19; tarsus, 14; middle toe with claw, 26. Seven females average, 233 in length; wing, 150; tail, 76; culmen, 19; tarsus, 15; middle toe with claw, 26." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

241. PRIONITURUS LUCONENSIS Steere.

LUZON RACKET-TAILED PARRAKEET.

Prioniturus luconensis Steere, List Birds and Mams. Steere Exped. (1890), 6; Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 20, 420; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 49. Prioniturus luzonensis Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 29.

Luzon (Steere Exp., Whitehead, McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.).

Male.--General color bright yellow-green, very slightly darker on back and rump; alula, primaries, and coverts dark green; short rectrices green above, with wide dark tips; spatules black and dark blue. Iris dark brown; bill and feet light blue; nails horn-blue. Sexes alike? Length, with rackets, about 305; two males from Mariveles, Bataan Province, measure, wing, 140 to 143; tail without rackets, 67 to 73; culmen from cere, 17 to 18; tarsus, 13 to 14.

"Immature.--Differs from the adult in having the middle tail-feathers with the shaft not naked and with no developed spatula, although the webs become narrower before the end; the tips of the two middle tail-feathers are blue; the lateral tail-feathers have, towards the end, less blue than in the adult bird." (Salvadori.)

"We found this beautiful species common about the foot of Monte Arayat, in central Luzon, though we failed to meet with it in Albay or Catanduanes. In north Luzon it was abundant in the maize fields, feeding on the flower at the top of the plant. Young were obtained in the month of May in Isabella." Whitehead, Ibis, (1899), 397.

Genus TANYGNATHUS Wagler, 1832.

Bill very heavy and strongly curved; edge of mandible but slightly nicked; tail long; rectrices graduated, about 25 mm. difference between longest feathers and shortest; colors green and yellowish green; wing-coverts variegated; length, 300 mm.

Species.

a1. Top of head bright blue; back green. ... lucionensis (p. 281) a2. Top of head green; back blue.

b1. Median upper wing-coverts edged with pure golden yellow. ... megalorhynchos (p. 283) b2. Median and greater upper wing-coverts edged with yellowish green.

c1. Wing about 195 mm.; head darker green. ... everetti (p. 283) c2. Wing about 225 mm.; head lighter, more yellowish green. ... burbidgei (p. 284)

242. TANYGNATHUS LUCIONENSIS (Linnæus).

PHILIPPINE GREEN PARROT.

Psittacus lucionensis Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 146. Tanygnathus luconensis Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 20, 424; Grant, Ibis (1896), 561 (critical notes). Tanygnathus luzonensis Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 30. Tanygnathus lucionensis McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 49.

Pi-coy', Bohol and Ticao.

Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Doherty, McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Cagayan Sulu (Guillemard, McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Caluya (Porter); Cebu (Everett, McGregor); Guimaras (Meyer, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Lapac (Guillemard); Leyte (Everett); Luzon (Meyer, Whitehead, McGregor); Maestre de Campo (McGregor & Worcester); Malanipa (Murray); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Murray, Everett, Koch & Schadenberg, Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow, Celestino); Mindoro (Steere Exp., Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Porter); Negros (Layard, Steere, Everett, Steere Exp., Keay); Palawan (Steere, Everett, Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, White); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Samar (Whitehead); Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor); Verde (McGregor).

Adult.--Forehead, lores, and sides of face grass-green connecting with the grass-green collar of hind neck; crown and occiput bright blue; rest of upper parts green, yellowish on the mantle and more or less mixed with light blue on the back; below yellowish green, becoming clear green on abdomen and under tail-coverts; primaries blackish on inner web, dark green on outer web, tips of shorter ones blue; secondaries mostly blue with light green edges; tertials green with blue tips; alula and primary-coverts dark blue, black along the shafts and more or less washed with green; distal greater and median coverts bright blue with yellow-green margins; proximal greater and median coverts with the middle black, surrounded by a narrow line of bright blue followed by a wide edge of old gold; lesser coverts black, some of the proximal ones bordered with blue and old gold; tail grass-green above, dark golden yellow below.

Iris very pale straw, a narrow inner ring of darker yellow; upper mandible bright scarlet, except tip which like the lower mandible is dull yellow, cere black; legs dull green; nails dark horn. Length, 300 to 330 mm. Specimens from different parts of the Archipelago vary greatly in measurements and colors. The sexes do not differ except that the female is a little the smaller. Four males from Ticao average: Wing, 195; tail, 132; culmen from cere, 33; tarsus, 18. Two females from Ticao average: Wing, 187; tail, 126; culmen from cere, 28; tarsus, 18.

Young.--Differs from the adult in having little or no blue on the head and face which are green; back largely sky-blue; blue of wings and coverts largely replaced by green; the coverts bordered with light yellowish green.

"The Philippine green parrot is the common cage bird of the natives, who have doubtless aided in its dispersal. Escaped cage birds were shot by us on several occasions. Called 'picoi' by the natives. Occurs in deep forest, but is also very common in the open, especially about dead trees, where it nests in natural cavities or in deserted holes of the great woodpeckers (Thriponax).

"Iris of male birds has an outer ring of white and an inner of brown; iris of females light yellow; legs and feet drab, nails black; bill scarlet, yellowish at tip. Fully adult specimens show very great variability as to size, running from 300 to 395. Fourteen males from Tawi Tawi measure 325 in length; wing, 191; tail, 126; culmen, 29; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 29. Two females from Masbate measure, length, 311; wing, 180; tail, 124; culmen, 30; tarsus, 17; middle toe with claw, 35." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Grant finds some very considerable differences among specimens of this species from various islands but evidently he considers them to be of less than even subspecific value. Possibly this species will eventually be split into several subspecies or races.

243. TANYGNATHUS MEGALORHYNCHOS (Boddaert).

LARGE-BILLED PARROT.

Psittacus megalorhynchos Boddaert, Tabl. Pl. Enl. (1783), 45. Tanygnathus megalorhynchus Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 20, 426; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 30.