Part 222

Balabac (Everett); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Steere, Everett, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Everett, Celestino, White).

Adult male and female.--Almost entirely glossy blue-black; some feathers of lower abdomen, flanks, and sides of back with white shafts, or with subterminal white spots which are more or less concealed; under tail-coverts black, broadly tipped with white; four central rectrices black, the others white with concealed black bases; wings black, most of the feathers edged with glossy blue-black. Length, 215 to 220 mm. A male from Palawan measures: Wing, 88; tail, 105; culmen from base, 17; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 26; middle toe with claw, 23. A female, wing, 81; tail, 98; culmen, from base, 17; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 22.

Young.--Similar to the adult but throat and breast less glossy; abdomen, flanks, and crissum entirely white, thighs brown; the flanks slightly washed with earthy brown. In more nearly adult plumage the throat and breast become glossy and the white of the abdomen is reduced in extent and broken up; the thighs become black.

"Quite common in Palawan, where we found it skulking in thickets in the deep woods, usually near or on the ground, though it would fly up into the trees if followed. In the Calamianes Islands we found it abundantly in bamboo thickets.

"Four males from Palawan average: Length, 205; wing, 87; tail, 107; culmen, 21; tarsus, 24; middle toe with claw, 22. Two females, length, 230; wing, 90; tail, 105; culmen, 20; tarsus, 25; middle toe with claw, 22. Iris dark brown to black; legs, feet, and nails brown to black; bill black. Called by natives of Palawan 'tam-be-lad-nun'." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

545. KITTACINCLA CEBUENSIS Steere.

CEBU BLACK SHAMA.

Cittocincla cebuensis Steere, List Birds and Mams. Steere Exped. (1890), 20; Bourns and Worcester, Minnesota Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. Papers (1894), 1, 58; Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 162; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 86; McGregor, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 307.

Cebu (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor).

Adult.--Glossy blue-black; wings black; coverts, alula, and some of the secondaries edged with glossy blue-black; axillars and wing-lining similar; tail black. Two adult males measure: Wing, 90, 95; tail, 105.6, 99 (imperfect); culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 27, 26; middle toe with claw, 24, 23.

An immature male from Toledo, Cebu, October 13, differs from the adult as follows: Feathers of crown and nape tipped with dull rusty brown; wings dull seal-brown; each feather of alula and greater coverts with a subterminal spot of ocherous brown; lesser coverts black, fringed with silvery gray; lower parts dull blue-gray, tips of feathers ocherous, becoming more rusty on flanks.

"An immature female is slaty black above, tail dull black; wing-coverts brown, tipped with distinct spots of rufous-brown, these spots forming two irregular bars; quills fulvous-brown; primaries faintly washed on outer webs with rufous-brown; forehead brownish; lores, ring round eye, sides of face and chin light rufous-brown; center of throat and upper breast slaty gray, a few of the feathers still retaining brownish centers; rest of under surface slaty black washed with brown; under tail-coverts black with brown shaft-stripes." (Bourns and Worcester.)

"Apparently confined to the island of Cebu where it is very rare. Invariably found in the forest and in dense thickets close to the ground. It is both quiet and shy. We never heard it utter a note.

"Two males from Cebu average: Length, 205; wing, 90; tail, 100; culmen, 20; tarsus, 26; middle toe with claw, 24. Iris very dark brown; legs, feet, and nails dark brown, almost black; bill black. Breeding in June." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Subfamily SAXICOLINÆ.

The two species representing this subfamily in the Philippines are small; the upper tail-coverts are white, which is not true of the other Philippine Turdidæ; the bill is slender and the feeding habits are Muscicapine.

Genera.

a1. First primary about one-half the second in length; tail uniform in color. ... Pratincola (p. 564) a2. First primary less than one-third the length of second; tail bicolored, the basal part light ... Saxicola (p. 565)

Genus PRATINCOLA Koch, 1816.

Bill stout; rictal bristles strong, equal to or longer than bill from nostril; wing moderate; first primary more than one-half second and longer than tarsus; tail moderate in length and rounded.

546. PRATINCOLA CAPRATA (Linnæus).

PIED CHAT.

Motacilla caprata Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 335. Pratincola caprata Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1879), 4, 195; Hand-List (1903), 4, 173; Oates, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1890), 2, 59, fig. 24 (head); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 104 (habits); Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1905), 4, 161; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 86.

Si-páo, Manila.

Bantayan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett, McGregor); Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Jagor, Everett, Möllendorff, Steere Exp., Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor, Bartsch); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Everett); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Panay (Steere, Steere Exp.); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Ticao (McGregor). Persia, India Peninsula, Burmese provinces, Java, Borneo.

Adult male.--Most of the plumage glossy black; inner series of secondary-coverts white, forming a conspicuous patch; rump, upper tail-coverts, and crissum pure white; some feathers of flanks, lower abdomen, and thighs tipped with white; extreme bases of outer rectrices white. Bill, legs, and nails black. Length, about 130 mm. Wing, 68; tail, 50; culmen from base, 14; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 20. In winter the male has many feathers of head, back, breast, abdomen, and sides of body fringed with buff.

Adult female.--In fresh plumage (April); upper parts ashy gray with dark brown centers to the feathers; rump and tail-coverts rusty buff; lower parts brown; feathers of chin edged with pale whitish buff; crissum pale whitish buff; remainder of under parts ocherous brown, the feathers with darker centers; feathers of wing dark brown with lighter margins; rectrices blackish brown. In worn plumage (September) the upper parts, except uropygium, become seal-brown; wing-feathers similar from the wearing away of the light margins; under parts darker than in the fresh plumage. A female measures: Wing, 64; tail, 50; culmen from base, 13; bill from nostril, 7.5; tarsus, 20.

Young.--A young male (May) resembles the female in worn plumage, but the under parts are richer and more mottled; chin and throat buff with blackish edges to feathers; breast and abdomen rusty ocherous, the feathers of breast fringed with dull black; head, neck, and back smoky black, most of the feathers marked with small buff spots; secondaries, alula, and secondary-coverts broadly edged with rusty ocherous; edging of alula-feathers lighter; bases of inner greater coverts pure white.