Part 192

456. EDOLISOMA EVERETTI Sharpe.

EVERETT'S CUCKOO SHRIKE.

Edoliisoma everetti Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1893), 3, 10; Hand-List (1901), 3, 297; Grant, Ibis (1896), 538; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 77.

Bongao (Everett); Sulu (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester).

Male.--Forehead, lores, sides of face and throat black; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts uniform gray; breast, abdomen, and crissum gray. Wing, 123.

Female.--Entire head and throat gray; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts uniform gray.

I have seen neither a specimen nor a detailed description of this species, but there should be little difficulty in identifying it.

"A male from Sulu measures: Length, 236; wing, 123; tail, 105; culmen, 26; tarsus, 22; middle toe with claw, 24. A female, length, 229; wing, 117; tail, 98; culmen, 26; tarsus, 23; middle toe with claw, 22. Iris very dark brown; bill, legs, feet, and nails black. Quite rare and seems to be confined to the forest." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

457. EDOLISOMA MINDANENSE (Tweeddale).

MINDANAO CUCKOO SHRIKE.

Volvocivora mindanensis Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1878), 947. Edoliisoma mindanense Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1879), 4, 470; Hand-List (1901), 3, 297; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 77.

Basilan (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindanao (Everett).

Male.--Above bluish gray, becoming lighter on lower back, and pearl-gray on rump and tail-feathers; frontal band, lores, sides of face to above eyes, chin, throat, and fore breast glossy black; rest of under parts slate-gray; wings and tail mostly black; secondaries and wing-coverts broadly edged with ashy gray; a few of the primaries narrowly edged with ashy gray; two middle rectrices gray for three-fourths of their length and some of the outer ones tipped with gray. Length, about 230; wing, 122; tail, 100; culmen from base, 21; bill from nostril, 16; tarsus, 21.

Female.--Wings and tail as in the male, remaining plumage ashy gray or light slate-gray, becoming delicate pearl-gray on rump, abdomen, and upper and under tail-coverts. Iris dark brown; bill, legs, and nails black. Wing, 117; tail, 92; culmen from base, 21; bill from nostril, 16; tarsus, 22.

"Average length of three males, 218; wing, 115; tail, 92; culmen, 25; tarsus, 21; middle toe with claw, 22. Two females, length, 227; wing, 115; tail, 91; culmen, 24; tarsus, 23; middle toe with claw, 22. Iris, bill, legs, and nails black; food fruit and seeds in the individuals examined. This species is very similar to E. everetti." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

458. EDOLISOMA ELUSUM McGregor.

ELUSIVE CUCKOO SHRIKE.

Edoliisoma elusum McGregor, Bureau Govt. Laboratories, Manila (1905), 34, 19; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 77.

Luzon (Celestino); Mindoro (McGregor).

Male.--Similar to the male of E. mindanense, but rump and upper tail-coverts bluish slate-gray like the back and not lighter pearl-gray.

Description of type.--General color bluish slate; chin, throat, fore breast, forehead, and sides of head, including lores and a wide line over eye, jet-black; alula, primary-coverts, and primaries black; inner primaries and inner feathers of alula narrowly edged with gray; secondaries black with wide edges of blue-gray, which cover nearly the entire outer web; secondary-coverts gray; inner webs of quills partly dark blue-gray, this begins as a small basal area on the short first primary, becomes greater on each succeeding quill, and reaches nearly to the tips of inner quills; a narrow edging of white on inner webs of first four quills; tail black; from below outermost pair of rectrices tipped with blue-gray (20 mm. in length); on second pair the gray tip much less, and only a trace on some of the other rectrices; central pair blue-gray above, with a subterminal black area. Length, 236; culmen from base, 22; bill from nostril, 16; wing, 127; tail, 106; tarsus, 23.

Female.--Similar to the female of E. mindanense, but rump and upper tail-coverts slate-gray like the back; abdomen and crissum gray like the breast, not lighter as in E. mindanense. Length of female type, 236; culmen from base, 22; bill from nostril, 15; wing, 126; tail, 106; tarsus, 23.

The elusive cuckoo shrike seems to be closely related to E. everetti, but no direct comparison can be made as the latter species is not represented in the Bureau of Science collection.

Genus PERICROCOTUS Boie, 1826.

Bill short and slightly flattened; wing and tail nearly equal in length, or wing shorter than tail; rectrices very narrow and strongly graduated, the outermost pair being less than one-half the middle pair. Length usually less than 200 mm. Excepting the gray and white P. cinereus which is migratory, the Philippine species are glossy black and some shade of bright yellow, red, or orange.

Species.

a1. Under parts bright red or yellow.

b1. Breast and abdomen yellow or orange.