Part 207

501. PTILOCICHLA MINDANENSIS Steere.

MINDANAO GROUND BABBLER.

Ptilocichla (?) mindanensis Steere, List Birds and Mams. Steere Exped. (1890), 18. Ptilocichla mindanensis Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 40; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 81. Ptilopyga mindanensis Blasius, Jour. für Orn. (1890), 146.

Mindanao (Steere Exp., Platen, Bourns & Worcester, Celestino).

"Above fulvous-brown; feathers of head narrowly edged with black; feathers of back showing indistinct shaft-stripes; below much as in P. basilanica which it equals in size also. It is readily separated by the fulvous-brown of the head and the uniform fulvous of the back." (Steere.)

"Habits similar to those of P. basilanica. Our specimens all show the differences pointed out by Dr. Steere between the Mindanao and Basilan birds, and we consider the two birds to belong to distinct species.

"A male from Mindanao measures: Length, 174; wing, 75; tail, 51; culmen, 22; tarsus, 27; middle toe with claw, 27. A female, length, 152; wing, 69; tail, 46; culmen, 20; tarsus, 27; middle toe with claw, 26. Iris light yellow or nearly white; legs, feet, and nails drab; upper mandible black, lower gray." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

502. PTILOCICHLA MINUTA Bourns and Worcester.

LESSER GROUND BABBLER.

Ptilocichla minuta Bourns and Worcester, Minnesota Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. Paper (1894), 1, 24; Grant, Ibis (1897), 230; Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 40; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 81.

Samar (Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead); Leyte (Whitehead).

"Sexes alike.--Feathers of the head and nape black, with heavy rufous-brown shaft-lines; feathers of back and upper wing-coverts bright reddish brown, with conspicuous, nearly white shaft-markings for their entire length; tips of feathers black; the elongated feathers of back, which reach to tail-coverts, with white shafts and white shaft-markings broad at base and narrowing at tip, edges and extreme tips of feathers being dark rich fulvous-brown; upper tail-coverts rufous-brown; tail-feathers fulvous-brown edged with rufous-brown; lores white; superciliary line white, extending as far as hind neck; ear-coverts fulvous with light shaft-stripes, the latter becoming rufous on hind neck, malar stripe black; chin and throat pure white; feathers of breast and abdomen have very broad white shaft-stripes, giving a streaked appearance to the under surface; feathers of flanks much elongated, light fulvous-brown with distinct white shaft-stripes, broadest at base; under tail-coverts colored like flanks; under surface of wing fulvous-brown, brighter on coverts.

"Readily distinguished from P. basilanica by having all the feathers of back, head, rump, and upper wing-coverts with prominent shaft-lines, by the darker color of the long feathers of the back, and by its much smaller size. Exceedingly rare. Length, 136; wing, 69; tail, 42; culmen, 19; tarsus, 24." (Bourns and Worcester.)

"Iris dark reddish brown; legs, feet, and nails dark brown; bill black, except base of lower mandible, which is yellow." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

"'This bird is always found on the ground; when moving it does not hop like the thrush-tribe, but has a most decided walk like the starlings. Its note is a 'chic-chic-chic'; it is most shy and very difficult to obtain. Iris dark brown, tip of upper mandible black, lower light gray; feet brown.'--J. W." (Grant.)

Genus ANUROPSIS Sharpe, 1883.

Bill from nostril less than one-half the tarsus; nostril with an overhanging membrane; rictal bristles weak, the longest less than bill from nostril; wing very short and rounded; tail very short and soft, not more than one-half the wing; legs and feet very large, when outstretched extending well beyond the end of tail; tarsus about equal to tail; body plumage soft and decomposed.

503. ANUROPSIS CINEREICEPS (Tweeddale).

ASHY-HEADED WOOD BABBLER.

Drymocataphus cinereiceps Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1878), 617. Anuropsis cinereiceps Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1883), 7, 590; Hand-List (1903), 4, 41; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 81.

Balabac (Everett); Palawan (Everett, Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Bourns & Worcester, Celestino).

Male.--Top of head and hind neck ashy gray, lighter on lores and ear-coverts; remainder of upper parts fulvous-brown, more rusty on outer webs of primaries and secondaries: chin, throat, and middle of breast and abdomen white; sides of breast, flanks, thighs, and crissum light tan or ocherous-brown, extending faintly across fore-breast. Length, 114; wing, 61; tail, 30; culmen from base, 18; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 27.

"Adult female.--(Puerto Princesa, Palawan, January, 1878; A. Everett; type of species). General color above dark fulvous-brown, with faintly indicated pale shaft-stripes to the feathers of the mantle; the plumage of the lower back and rump very full and lax, with dusky or silvery gray bases; lesser and median wing-coverts like the back, with the same pale shaft-lines; greater series dark fulvous-brown; quills dark brown internally, externally dark fulvous-brown, somewhat ashy on the outer webs of the primaries; tail-feathers dark fulvous-brown; crown of head dark ashy gray, the hind neck and sides of neck lighter ashy gray; lores and feathers round the eye ashy whitish; ear-coverts light ashy gray with whitish shaft-lines; cheeks white, with a narrow line of black along their upper margin; entire throat pure white, as also the entire abdomen; breast and sides of the body, thighs, and under tail-coverts light fulvous-brown, with paler shaft-lines on the feathers of the breast; axillars fulvous with white bases; under wing-coverts fulvous; quills dusky brown below, ashy fulvous along the edge of the inner web. 'Bill brownish gray, the mandible white; legs pallid, the front of the tarsi tinged brown; iris burnt sienna-orange.' (A. H. Everett.) Length, 144; culmen, 18; wing, 60; tail, 27; tarsus, 28. (Mus. R. G. Wardlaw-Ramsay)." (Sharpe.)

"Rare in the region collected in by us; a single male obtained. It measures: Length, 127; wing, 61; tail, 27; culmen, 20; tarsus, 27; middle toe with claw, 23. Iris brown; legs, feet, and nails pale flesh-color; upper mandible black, lower nearly white." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Genus DASYCROTAPHA Tweeddale, 1878.

"Base of maxilla densely clothed with short feathers, space behind the eye naked; bill about the length of head, and formed as in Mixornis; wing lengthened, longer than tail; first primary half the length of the second, which is a fifth shorter than the third; third a little shorter than the fourth, which is equal to fifth and sixth; tail moderate and square; tarsus strong; hallux with claw stout and long; digits short and slender; outer a little longer than inner." (Tweeddale.)

504. DASYCROTAPHA SPECIOSA Tweeddale.

BEAUTIFUL ROUGHTEMPLE.