Part 215

b2. Chest paler, contrasting strongly with the dark color of crown.

c1. Smaller; wing, 124.5 mm.; tail, 96.5; chin, throat, and chest pale sooty brown, rather lighter on breast, flanks, and belly; median area of under surface dark, except at vent; under tail-coverts dark brown with pale, whitish brown tips. ... nigrorum (p. 545) c2. Larger; wing, 127 mm.; tail, 115; chin, throat, and chest pale drab-gray; flanks and breast similar in color to the upper surface of body; median area of under surface spotted with white anteriorly, all white posteriorly; under tail-coverts sooty-brown, with broad, longitudinal white stripes. ... malindangensis (p. 546)

524. PLANESTICUS MINDORENSIS (Grant).

MINDORO BLACK THRUSH.

Turdus mindorensis Grant, Ibis (1896), 465; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 213 (habits). Merula mindorensis Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 125; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 83.

Mindoro (Whitehead).

"Adult male.--Top and sides of the head and nape grayish brown, shading into brownish black on the rest of the upper parts and tail; chin whitish; throat and upper breast brownish gray, but considerably paler than the crown; sides of the lower breast and flanks rich chestnut; middle of the breast and belly pure white; under tail-coverts dark gray, tinged with rufous and with wide white middles, widest toward the extremity. Length, 229; wing, 108; tail, 88; tarsus, 30.

"Adult female.--Only differs from the male in having the brownish black upper parts washed with dark olive, most conspicuous on the rump and upper tail-coverts. Length, 221; wing, 108; tail, 82.5; tarsus, 30.

"In the immature male the upper parts resemble those of the female, but most or many of the feathers on the top of the head are brownish black and similar in color to the back of the adult male.

"In a slightly older example the head is mixed with the brownish gray feathers of the adult plumage; in a younger bird the crown is uniform brownish black, and the feathers of the mantle have rufous shaft-stripes. Both these birds have the chest and upper breast mixed with rust-colored feathers spotted with black at the extremity, and perfectly similar to those found in the young of the common blackbird (T. merula).

"An immature female has the top of the head and nape warm dark brown, and the rest of the upper parts dark brown washed with olive, as in the adult female, but few of the feathers of the mantle and wing-coverts have narrow rufous shaft-stripes, and the throat and chest are mostly clad in the rust and black-spotted immature plumage. The nearly adult female differs only from the adult in having the crown blackish brown." (Grant).

525. PLANESTICUS THOMASSONI (Seebohm).

LUZON BLACK THRUSH.

Merula thomassoni Seebohm, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1894), 3, 41; Grant, Ibis (1894), 508; (1895), 445; Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 120; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 83. Turdus thomassoni Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 212.

Bul-it, Benguet.

Luzon (Whitehead, McGregor, Mearns).

Adult.--Entire head, neck all round, chin, throat, and chest light smoky brown, darker on forehead and crown; remainder of plumage black; some of the feathers at sides of abdomen tipped with white; under tail-coverts with white shaft-streaks and narrow rusty brown tips. Bill, legs, and nails yellow. Length of a male, plumage somewhat worn, 240; wing, 116; tail, 92; culmen from base, 22; bill from nostril, 14; tarsus, 31. A female, wing, 118; tail, 93; culmen from base, 24; bill from nostril, 15; tarsus, 33. Even in adult birds there is some variation in the amount of white on the under tail-coverts, and rusty brown fringes on the feathers of the abdomen seem to indicate immaturity. A young male has the head and neck black instead of chocolate-brown and the feathers of lower breast and abdomen are liberally marked with rusty brown, this coloring the shafts of some feathers.

526. PLANESTICUS MAYONENSIS (Mearns).

MAYON BLACK THRUSH.

Merula mayonensis Mearns, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 358.

Luzon (Mearns).

"Characters.--Pattern of coloration similar to that of Merula thomassoni Grant, but darker, with less contrast between the coloration of the head and that of the body. Smaller, with relatively stouter bill; preanal feathers not tipped with white.

"Description of type (adult male).--Upper surface except head and neck all black; under surface of body black perceptibly washed with brown on feather edges; head and neck very dark brown, almost black on crown; entire under surface of wings and tail dull black; under tail-coverts black with narrow median white stripes involving the shafts. Iris very dark brown; eyelids, bill, feet, and claws all yellow. Female exactly like the male. A younger male than the type differs only in having the feathers of the under side of the body edged with yellowish brown. Length, 215; wing, 120; tail, 101; culmen (chord measured from true base), 22; bill from anterior margin of nostril, 13; tarsus, 34; middle toe with claw, 32.5.

"Female.--Length, 210; wing, 117; tail, 99; culmen, 20.5; bill from nostril, 13; tarsus, 33; middle toe with claw, 32." (Mearns.)

527. PLANESTICUS KELLERI (Mearns).

KELLER'S BLACK THRUSH.

Merula kelleri Mearns, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. (1905), 18, 6; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 83.

Pó-lo, Bagobo of Mount Apo.