Part 218

KUHL'S GROUND THRUSH.

Turdus interpres "Kuhl MS," Temminck, Pl. Col. (1828), 2, no. 458. Geocichla interpres Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 166; Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 132; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 84.

Basilan (Steere Exp.); Sulu (Platen); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester). Malay Peninsula, northwestern Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Lombok, Sumbawa.

"In the adult male in spring plumage the head is brownish chestnut, shading into orange-chestnut on the nape; the rest of the upper parts slate-gray; lores grayish white; no trace of eye-stripe; ear-coverts and cheeks black, the feathers of the former with white bases; innermost secondaries and quills dark brown; wing-coverts nearly black; median wing-coverts white; greater wing-coverts tipped with white; unemarginated portion of outside web of primaries pale slate-gray; tail brown, the outside feather on each side broadly tipped with white, and the next narrowly so; chin, throat, and upper breast black; rest of the under parts white, suffused with ochraceous on the flanks; the feathers of the lower breast with conspicuous fan-shaped black terminal spots, which become obscure on the flanks; axillars, basal portion white, terminal portion dark slate-gray; lower under wing-coverts, basal portion black, terminal portion white; basal portion of inner web of the secondaries and many of the primaries white. Bill dark brown above and below. Wing with the fourth and fifth primaries nearly equal and longest, second primary between the seventh and eighth, bastard primary, 24 to 21.5 mm. Legs, feet, and claws flesh-color. Wing, 108 to 102; tail, 61 to 53; culmen, 19.5 to 18; tarsus, 29 to 28. The adult plumage of the sexes appears to be alike, nor is it known that any important change takes place by abrasion.

"Young in first plumage appear to have the whole of the upper parts dull chestnut, each feather having a pale shaft and obscure pale center; the white bars on the wings are suffused with chestnut, and the black on the under parts is confined to two moustachial lines on the cheeks, the rest being dull chestnut. This plumage is immediately molted to the adult plumage in the first autumn, except that certain birds, which I take to be females, have the slate-gray of the upper parts replaced by dark olive-brown." (Seebohm.)

534. GEOKICHLA CINEREA Bourns and Worcester.

MINDORO GROUND THRUSH.

Geocichla cinerea Bourns and Worcester, Minnesota Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. Papers (1894), 1, 23; Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 133; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 84.

Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor).

Male.--Above black; feathers of head, neck, back, rump, and scapulars edged with ashy gray; lores white, the hair-like tips of the shafts black; eye-circle white, broken above and below center of eye by a black spot; feathers of jaw and ear-coverts white with black tips, between these areas the cheeks are black; chin feathers white, their shafts with black hair-like tips; remainder of under parts white, the feathers of throat, chest, and sides of body and abdomen with large fan-shaped black tips, forming an almost solid black pectoral patch, but posteriorly becoming gradually smaller; crissum and middle of abdomen without spots and washed with ocherous buff, most heavily on the longer tail-coverts; a dusky wash on flanks; wing-feathers blackish; outer webs of primaries edged with gray; inner webs of quills, except first two, with a diagonal band of light buff or white; alula and primary- and secondary-coverts black; greater and median coverts tipped with white forming two bars; edge of wing white; axillars white, tipped with blackish, these colors reversed on under wing-coverts; tail blackish, outermost rectrices each with a terminal white spot on inner web. Length, about 200 mm. A male measures: Wing, 115; tail, 70; culmen from base, 22; bill from nostril, 13; tarsus, 32; middle toe with claw, 29.

Female.--The only female examined is very similar to the male, but the ocherous wash of the under parts is lighter and the outer webs of the primary-coverts are marked with white forming a short band. Bill black, base of lower mandible whitish; iris very dark brown; legs and nails white. Wing, 112; tail, 63; culmen from base, 22; bill from nostril, 13; tarsus, 30.

535. GEOKICHLA MINDANENSIS Mearns.

MINDANAO GROUND THRUSH.

Geocichla mindanensis Mearns, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 359.

Mindanao (Mearns).

"Description of type (and only specimen).--Upper surface, including head, dark ashen gray closely resembling the shade of the same parts in Geocichla cinerea Bourns and Worcester; feathers of the back edged with black; scapulars with black spots occupying the tip of the web on the upper side; wing and tail-feathers shaded with brown and crossed by obsolete, wavy bars of darker; lores, eyelids, ear-coverts, and cheeks cinereous finely mixed with pale fawn-color, the malar region being cross-banded with black and fawn and the ear-coverts longitudinally striped with white; chin and throat white, narrowly cross-banded with black and bordered by black stripes; pectoral region plain cinereous-ash with pale shafts to the feathers; lower chest and flanks black and white, each feather heavily margined with jet-black inclosing a sharply pointed white spot; middle of abdomen white; crissum white, faintly washed with buff which is strongest on the lower tail-coverts; under side of wing-quills broadly white on inner border at base; edge of wing white; axillars white at base, broadly black at tip; under wing-coverts black, tipped with white and pale cream-color; upper wing-coverts without white spots. Length, 230; wing, 125; tail, 78; culmen (chord), 35; bill from nostril, 19; tarsus, 32; middle toe with claw, 30.

"This species was occasionally seen as it darted through the mossy forest or alighted upon the ground; but it was so shy that only a single specimen was shot, although its loud, sweet song was frequently heard at morning and evening." (Mearns.)

Genus ZOOTHERA Vigors, 1831.

"In the genus Zoothera the sexes are alike, the under wing-coverts and axillars of two colors, the colors in the one part transposed or reversed in the other, the lower plumage squamated, not distinctly barred nor spotted, and the rictal bristles very long and numerous. The anterior or supplementary bristles extend over the nostrils as in the flycatchers, and Zoothera is the only genus of thrushes in which this feature is present. The bill is very long and strongly curved near the tip, and the edges of the mandible are frequently serrated by wear and tear, but never originally so." (Oates.)

536. ZOOTHERA ANDROMEDÆ (Temminck).

JAVAN GROUND THRUSH.

Myiothera andromedæ "Kuhl MS," Temminck, Pl. Col. (1826), 2, no. 392. Geocichla andromedæ Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 163. Zoothera andromeda Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 138. Geocichla andromeda Grant, Ibis (1906), 477.

Mindanao (Goodfellow). Java, Sumatra, Lombok.

"In the adult male in spring plumage the general color of the upper parts is dark brown, approaching black on the head and on the margins of the feathers of the back; feathers of lores and ear-coverts with pale centers; no trace of eye-stripe; wings and tail not quite so black as the back; chin and upper throat white, with narrow transverse terminal black bands; cheeks pale slate-gray with broad terminal black bands; lower throat and breast pale slate-gray; center of belly and under tail-coverts buffish white; flanks black with large diamond-shaped white centers; axillars, basal half white, terminal half black; lower under wing-coverts, basal half black, terminal half white; basal portions of the inner webs of the secondaries and many of the primaries white. Bill abnormally long, dark brown above and below; wing with the fourth primary slightly the longest, second primary about equal to the sixth; bastard primary, 32 to 28 mm. Legs, feet, and claws dark brown. Wing, 124 to 122; tail, 77 to 71; culmen, 29 to 28; tarsus, 34 to 33.

"It is not known that there is any difference of plumage attributable to either sex or season. Young in first plumage have pale ochraceous shafts to most of the feathers of the upper parts and fan-shaped, ochraceous terminal spots to the wing-coverts. The under parts are also much suffused with ochraceous and the breast and flanks barred with black, the diamond-shaped pale centers being irregular in shape." (Seebohm.)

Genus OREOCINCLA Gould, 1838.

"In the genus Oreocincla the sexes are alike, the under wing-coverts and axillars are each of two colors, those on the axillars being transposed or reversed in order on the under wing-coverts, the lower plumage is distinctly barred or spotted, never squamated, and the rictal bristles are few and confined to the gape. The tail is typically short and the upper tail-coverts very ample. There is a distinct pattern on the under side of the wing." (Oates.)

537. OREOCINCLA VARIA (Pallas).