Part 142

Cuculus coromandus Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12, (1766), 1, 171. Coccystes coromandus Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 19, 214; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 155; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 103, pl. 2, fig. 4; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 60.

Mindanao (Everett); Palawan (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester). Malay and Indian Peninsulas, Burmese countries, southern and central China, Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes.

"Adult male.--Entire upper half of head black, strongly glossed with blue on the crest; across the back of the neck a clear white collar; back black, strongly glossed with greenish blue, and passing into glossy olive-green on the scapulars and inner portion of wings; remainder of wings chestnut, with brown ends to the quills; tail glossy violet-black, most of the feathers, especially the outer ones, partially tipped with white; throat chestnut-buff; chest buffy white; flanks, abdomen, and thighs grayish ash, passing into violet-black on under tail-coverts; under surface of wings chestnut, fading into buff towards the least coverts, and into brown at the ends of the quills. 'Iris dark brown; bill black, with the pale basal portion of lower mandible light gray; legs, feet, and claws slaty blue.' (Darling.) Length, 406; culmen, 28; wing, 173; tail, 254; tarsus, 25.

"Adult female.--Similar in plumage to the male, but smaller. Length, 381; culmen, 30; wing, 155; tail, 229; tarsus, 25. Colonel Legge states that the female bird is larger than the male, but this is not borne out by the series in the [British] museum.

"Nestling.--Differs from the adult in having most of the feathers of the upper parts tipped with rufous, the collar being shaded with rufous; the tail-feathers broadly tipped with pale sandy buff; the throat buffy white like the chest, and the under tail-coverts rufous-buff. Length, 350; wing, 160." (Shelley.)

"Apparently a stranger in the Philippines. A single specimen was obtained by Everett in Mindanao. We obtained one specimen in Siquijor, and another in Palawan. No other example was met with on our trip. The Palawan specimen, a female, measures, 375 in length; wing, 153; tail, 219; culmen, 30; tarsus, 30; middle toe with claw, 29. Iris dark brown; legs, feet, and nails slaty blue; bill black, pale at base of lower mandible." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Genus SURNICULUS Lesson, 1831.

Length, about 215 mm; plumage almost entirely black; tail nearly square, tips of the feathers turned outward giving the tail a forked appearance like that of a drongo (Dicrurus); outer pair of feathers much shorter than the rest.

Species.

a1. Tail longer, about 120 mm.; head, neck, and back with a light oil-green gloss. ... lugubris (p. 366) a2. Tail shorter, about 100 mm.; head, neck, and back blue-black without gloss. ... velutinus (p. 367)

329. SURNICULUS LUGUBRIS (Horsfield).

GLOSSY DRONGO CUCKOO.

Cuculus lugubris Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1821), 13, pt. 1, 179. Surniculus lugubris Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 19, 227; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 156; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 104; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 60.

Balabac (Everett); Palawan (Everett, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, White). Southern China, Malay and Indian Peninsulas, Burmese provinces, Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, Borneo.

Adult male.--Black; wings, upper and under tail-coverts, and tail glossed with dark green; head, neck, back, and under parts glossed with blue; a few hidden white feathers on occiput; a patch of white feathers on each thigh; under tail-coverts narrowly barred and tipped with white; a large white spot on inner web of first primary; a diagonal white bar across inner webs of inner primaries; outermost tail-feathers incompletely barred and tipped with white; outer webs of three or four outer tail-feathers narrowly edged with white near base. "Bill, legs, and claws black; gape and inside of mouth orange-red; iris brown." (Shelley.) Length, 240; wing, 130; tail, 122; culmen from base, 24.

Adult female.--Similar to the male. Wing, 120; tail, 112; culmen from base, 21.

"Immature.--Slightly less glossy, of a more violet shade, and with clear white terminal spots to many of the feathers irregularly dispersed over the plumage; under wing-coverts irregularly barred with white, and the white bar across the quills broader than in the adult; the tail rather more barred with white, the white bars being much more distinct on the outer feathers, and the penultimate ones partially barred near their quills, and all the feathers with white spots at their tips.

"This species varies considerably in the shape of the tail which is sometimes very much forked, with the long feathers curved outwards towards their ends, but is sometimes square, the outer feather on each side being always short. The white of the nape is often absent, and the amount of the white spotting of the upper tail-coverts varies greatly. The most constant characters are the white spot and bar on the under surface of the quills, the bars on the under tail-coverts, and the bars on the outer tail-feathers, the latter varying in amount according to age. The immature bird, Cuculus albopunctatus Drap. has white spots which vary in number and size, the last to disappear with age being those at the ends of the tail-feathers. * * *." (Shelley.)

"A single male from Palawan measures, 229 in length; wing, 119; tail, 120; culmen, 23; tarsus, 15; middle toe with claw, 19." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

330. SURNICULUS VELUTINUS Sharpe.

PHILIPPINE DRONGO CUCKOO.

Surniculus velutinus Sharpe, Trans. Linn. Soc. Zool. (1877), 1, 320; Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 19, 230; Bourns and Worcester, Minnesota Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. Papers (1894), 1, 49; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 156; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 60.

Basilan (Steere, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Luzon (Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead); Mindanao (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Mindoro (McGregor); Negros (Whitehead); Samar (Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead); Sulu (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Everett, Bourns & Worcester).

"Adult.--Very closely allied to S. lugubris; tail always square, with the exception of the outer pair of feathers, which are much shorter; it differs in having the head, back, throat, and breast velvety black, with absolutely no trace of white on any of the tail-coverts, and a distinct narrow white basal edging to the tail-feathers. 'Iris dark chocolate-brown; bill and claws black; feet bluish gray.' (Everett.) Length, 203; culmen, 23; wing, 119; tail, 109; tarsus, 14. The sexes are similar in plumage." (Shelley.)

"Immature.--A young bird from Basilan, two-thirds grown, is light rusty brown in color, lightest on under surface; crown and nape show metallic blue-black feathers; one of the scapulars, many feathers of rump, and all of tail same color, mostly tipped with rusty brown; wing-coverts rusty brown with faint dark shaft-markings appearing; upper surface of wing black, faintly metallic, all the feathers edged with rusty brown; under surface of body uniform light brown; wing-coverts white strongly washed with brown at tips; white spot on inner webs of primaries appearing; under surface of tail dull metallic blue, each feather with several spots of white.

"A bird nearly grown shows numerous brown feathers on head and back. Primaries washed with rusty brown, primary-coverts uniform brown. Throat, chin, and upper breast nearly black. A third has general color of adult but some feathers of head, nape, primary-coverts, breast and abdomen as well as tips of some of the secondaries are washed with rusty brown." (Bourns and Worcester.)

"Abundant in Basilan; not uncommon in Tawi Tawi and Sulu. Found in the forest, or in second growth. Five males average, 215 in length; wing, 116; tail, 110; culmen, 23; tarsus, 15; middle toe with claw, 21. Five females, length, 212; wing, 115; tail, 106; culmen, 23; tarsus, 15; middle toe with claw, 20. Bill and nails black; iris black to leaden; food insects." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Genus HIEROCOCCYX S. Müller, 1839-44.