Part 116

ALLIED FROGMOUTH.

Batrachostomus affinis Blyth, Jour. As. Soc. Bengal (1847), 1180; Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877), 426, pl. 45; Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 16, 643; Everett, Ibis (1895), 38; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 43; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 51.

Palawan (Everett, White). Malay Peninsula, southern Tenasserim, Borneo, Sumatra.

Adult.--In plumage somewhat similar to B. javensis, but of smaller size. Hartert gives the measurements of the male as follows: "Length, about 216; wing, 114; tarsus, 13; width of gape, 25 to 30; culmen, 18 to 20."

Female.--A specimen recently collected in Palawan by White resembles the brown phase of B. javensis as described under that species. The specimen was taken near Iwahig on July 10, 1908, with its nest and two small nestlings. The adult bird measures: Wing, 115; tail, 113; culmen from base, 20; width of gape, 33; tarsus, 15.

Suborder CORACIÆ.

Family CORACIIDÆ.

Bill broad and slightly depressed; twelve tail-feathers; pectination of middle claw not comb-like; plumage not mottled, colors gaudy.

Subfamily CORACIINÆ.

Genus EURYSTOMUS Vieillot, 1816.

Bill short and broad; width of gape about equal to culmen; no rictal bristles and the bristles about bill very short; tail square.

265. EURYSTOMUS ORIENTALIS (Linnæus).

BROAD-BILLED ROLLER.

Coracias orientalis Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 159. Eurystomus orientalis Hume, Oates ed., N. & E. Ind. Birds (1890), 3, 57; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 17, 33, pl. 2, fig. 1; Hand-List (1900), 2, 47; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1895), 3, 107, fig. 30 (head); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 51.

Lo-ro in'-chic, Manila; lan-gac, Cagayancillo; ta-ga-tac, Calayan; Sa-lac-sá-can, Ticao.

Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester); Cuyo (Meyer); Dinagat (Everett); Fuga (McGregor); Guimaras (Meyer, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Steere Exp., Everett, Whitehead); Libagao (Porter); Luzon (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor); Maestre de Campo (McGregor & Worcester); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Steere Exp., McGregor); Mindanao (Steere, Murray, Everett, Koch & Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Goodfellow, Celestino), Mindoro (Steere Exp., Schmacker, Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Porter); Negros (Steere, Layard, Everett, Steere Exp., Whitehead, Keay); Palawan (Everett, Platen, Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester, White); Panaon (Everett); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead); Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor); Verde (McGregor). Malay Peninsula, Burmese provinces, Cachar, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Andamans, and Nicobars.

Adult.--Forehead, crown, and sides of face black becoming dark brown on occiput, neck, ear-coverts, and sides of neck; back, rump, tail-coverts, scapulars, inner secondaries, and secondary-coverts brown, washed with dull oily green; chin black with a small white spot in the center; throat deep purplish blue with bright blue mesial streaks; remainder of under parts greenish blue, becoming more intense on crissum; primaries, outer secondaries, and rectrices glossy black, marked more or less on both webs with deep purplish blue; a wide band of light blue across middle of primaries; alula and primary-coverts black, edged with deep purplish blue. Bill and legs bright red; nails and tip of bill black. Length of a male, 280; wing, 180; tail, 96; culmen from base, 33; tarsus, 17. Length of a female, 266; wing, 190; tail, 104; culmen from base, 34; middle toe with claw, 29.

"Young.--Differs from the adult in being duller in color and in having a black bill, and in wanting the bright blue patch on the throat, which is greenish, a little duller than the abdomen." (Sharpe.)

"Sixteen specimens measure as follows: Length, 352; wing, 181; tail, 109; culmen, 24; tarsus, 17; middle toe with claw, 26. Usually seen perching on some dead limb from which it flies in pursuit of insects, soon returning to its perch. Often seen flying about actively just after dark, like a night hawk." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

This roller is easily identified by its gaudy plumage, bright red bill, and peculiar jerky flight; there is no other Philippine species resembling it.

Suborder HALCYONES.

Family ALCEDINIDÆ.

Bill long, strong, and pointed, never hooked; culmen rounded or slightly flattened, straight or nearly so; nostrils small, reached by frontal feathers; wings and tail moderate, the latter slightly rounded; tarsus short; feet weak; front toes more or less united. The two subfamilies will not be considered here as their differences are very slight.

Genera.

a1. Tail longer than culmen.

b1. Bill compressed; culmen flattened; a groove on each side from nostril parallel to culmen; length of bird, 350 mm. or more. ... Pelargopsis (p. 303) b2. Bill little if at all compressed; culmen rounded; groove parallel to culmen shallow or absent; length of bird, 300 mm. or less. ... Halcyon (p. 318)

a2. Tail shorter than culmen.

b1. Toes four. ... Alcedo (p. 305) b2. Toes three; forest inhabiting.