Part 151

Nostrils partly hidden; a large, oblong, bare space surrounding the eye; feathers of entire top of head and of chin and throat with hard, glossy scale-like tips; wings short and rounded; tail long and graduated.

353. LEPIDOGRAMMUS CUMINGI (Fraser).

SCALE-FEATHERED CUCKOO.

Phoenicophaus cumingi Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1839), 112. Lepidogrammus cumingi Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 19, 404; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 172; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 64.

Al-bi-ló-ri-o, Manila.

Luzon (Cuming, Meyer, Everett, Möllendorff, Steere Exp., Whitehead, McGregor, Celestino); Marinduque (Steere Exp.).

"Adult (type of species).--Upper half and sides of the head gray, passing into white on the sides of the forehead and throat; all feathers of the forehead and a broad central band through the crown to the nape, ornamented with glossy, black, horny appendages, and having the subterminal portion of each feather white; a broad band of similarly horn-tipped feathers extending down the center of the throat; back of the neck deep chestnut; remainder of the upper parts deep glossy green, inclining to purplish blue on the quills and tail; the feathers of the latter with white ends; at the base of the neck a broad golden rufous semicircle bordering the white throat and blending into the deep chestnut of the sides of the neck and chest; abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts brownish black, washed with a dark green gloss on the outside of the thigh-coverts; under wing-coverts deep chestnut like the breast; quills uniform glossy black; eyelashes strong and black. 'Orbital patch and iris red; bill horn-yellow; legs gray.' (Everett.) Length, 432; culmen, 38; wing, 155; tail, 229; tarsus, 41.

"Nestling.--Upper half and sides of the head, wings, and body, both above and below, dark reddish brown; the quills and base of the tail glossy greenish black, with which color other portions of the wings are mottled; a broad white end to the tail; neck all round rufous, passing into rufous-gray on the chin." (Shelley.)

A male from Bataan Province, Luzon, measures: Wing, 158; tail, 230; culmen from base, 37; bill from nostril, 27; tarsus, 41; middle toe with claw, 39.

Order SCANSORES.

BARBETS.

Bill stout and strong; nostrils at base of bill and visible from above, partly covered by long stiff bristles; wings moderate; first primary very short; tail short and nearly square; rectrices ten; toes four, the outer one reversed, middle and inner ones united for their basal joints.

Suborder CAPITONES.

Characters same as those given for the Order.

Family CAPITONIDÆ.

Characters same as those given for the Order.

Genus XANTHOLÆMA Bonaparte, 1854.

Bristles about bill reaching beyond its tip; a small bunch of shorter bristles on chin; a narrow circle of bare skin around eye; prevailing color green with patches of red and yellow; length, about 150 mm. Individuals of the Philippine species are solitary and may be observed perched in dead trees where they remain for an hour or more at a time, repeating a single monotonous note. Eggs three or four, pure white; deposited in a hole excavated in a limb of a tree.

Species.

a1. Chin, throat, and subocular band yellow. ... hæmacephalum (p. 390) a2. Chin, throat, and subocular band red. ... roseum (p. 391)

354. XANTHOLÆMA HÆMACEPHALUM (P. L. S. Müller).

YELLOW-CHINNED BARBET.

Bucco hæmacephalus P. L. S. Müller, Nat. Syst. Suppl. (1776), 88. Xantholæma hæmatocephala Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 19, 89; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1895), 3, 98, fig. 27 (head). Xantholæma hæmatocephalum Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 185, 238; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 136; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 64.

A-so-ni-pú-song, Manila; took-took, generally.

Calamianes ? (Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Steere Exp., Whitehead); Luzon (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Martens, Everett, Koch & Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, Goodfellow); Mindoro (Steere Exp., Everett, Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor, Porter); Samar (Whitehead). Malay and Indian Peninsulas, Burmese Provinces, Ceylon, Sumatra.

Adult (sexes similar).--Forehead and crown crimson, followed by a blackish cross-band extending behind eye to ear-coverts; occiput and nape bluish slate; rest of upper parts olive-green; superciliary line, subocular line, chin, and throat light sulphur-yellow; lores, jaw, and ear-coverts black; posterior to yellow throat a narrow crimson band, followed by a narrower golden yellow band; remainder of under parts pale yellow heavily streaked with dark green, lighter on middle of abdomen; exposed edges of wing and tail-feathers grass-green. Iris brown; bill and nails black; legs and bare skin about eye red. A male from Bataan Province, Luzon, measures: Length, 175; wing, 87; tail, 42; bill from nostril, 17; culmen from base, 21; tarsus, 20; middle toe with claw, 21. A female from Bataan Province measures: Wing, 83; tail, 40; bill from nostril, 16; culmen from base, 20; tarsus, 17; middle toe with claw, 18.

"Young.--Differs from the adult in wanting the scarlet on the head and the bright colors of the under parts; uniform green above with yellowish white edgings to wing-coverts and secondaries; a pale yellow mark above and below eye; cheeks and ear-coverts blackish; throat and abdomen pale yellow; fore neck and breast dull green, the breast and sides of body narrowly streaked with green." (Shelley.)

"We heard a barbet on several occasions in Busuanga, but were unable to procure any specimens. As X. hæmacephalum occurs in Mindoro, it seems most probable that the Busuanga bird will prove to be of this species. Called 'took-took' by the natives from its habit of perching in the top of some tree and singing 'took, took, took' by the hour. Sometimes called 'clock-bird' by the Spaniards, from the regularity with which it utters its note.