Part 225

Calamodyta sorghophila Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1863), 92 and 293.

Acrocephalus sorgophilus Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 94; Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 187; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 87.

Luzon (McGregor). China.

Male.--Above tawny olive, uniform and more ocherous on rump and tail-coverts; head and back distinctly streaked with dark brown; lores, sides of head, and a line above each eye yellow-buff; on each side of crown a long blackish stripe bordering the superciliary line below; a dark line on upper border of ear-coverts; under parts pale buff, flanks and thighs darker; wings and tail brown and much worn. Rectrices twelve; iris dark brown. Wing, 55; tail, 49; culmen from base, 15; bill from nostril, 8; tarsus, 20; middle toe with claw, 18; hind toe with claw, 14. Bill comparatively broad and flat.

The specimen described above was killed in a bed of reeds on the border of Laguna de Bay, January 19, 1902. The only other specimen known was taken near Amoy, China, in May, 1861. The original description follows:

Type.--"Upper mandible of bill blackish brown, edge of upper and whole of lower yellow-ocher; rictus and inside of mouth yellow; iris ocherous brown; legs and toes plumbeous, with paler soles; upper parts ocherous olive, with a few rather faint streaks of blackish brown; eyebrow and cheeks ocherous, more buff-colored on the lores; over the eyebrow a black streak marks each side of the head; under parts yellowish buff, much paler on the throat, under neck, and center of belly; wing-coverts and tertiaries deep hair-brown, margined with ocherous olive; quills hair-brown edged with light chestnut-brown; tail pale hair-brown margined with reddish olive which color also tinges the rump; inner edges of the under wing edged with very pale rusty ocher. Length, 116.8; wing, 56.6; tail, 47.7; tarsi, 17.7; bill along culmen, 10.6.

"First quill very small, narrow, and pointed, about 8.6 mm. long; second quill 7 mm. shorter than the third and fourth, which are equal and longest, the fifth quill 3.8 mm. shorter than the third and fourth; the sixth 5.5 mm. shorter than the fifth. Tail much graduated, the rectrices being narrowed at their tips; tarsi thick; toes and claws strong, the hind toe and claw especially so." (Swinhoe.)

552. ACROCEPHALUS ORIENTALIS (Temminck and Schlegel).

ORIENTAL REED WARBLER.

Salicaria turdina orientalis Temminck and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Aves (1850), 50. Acrocephalus orientalis Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 97; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 210 (migration); Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 187; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1905), 4, 183; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 87.

Batan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (Meyer, Steere Exp., McGregor); Luzon (Meyer, Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Steere Exp., Goodfellow); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Palawan (Platen). Japan, northern China, and eastern Siberia; in winter to Burmese provinces and the Malay Archipelago.

Adult male and female.--Above nearly uniform olive-brown; feathers of back, tail-coverts, and wing-coverts somewhat fringed with ocherous buff; primaries, secondaries, and rectrices dark brown, edged with olive-brown; second primary with a whitish outer web; below white, washed with buff; chin and throat nearly pure white; breast pale buff; sides, flanks, thighs, and crissum considerably darker; lores and spot behind eye brown; eyelids pale buff; a line from nostril over lores and eye to occiput pale buff; feathers of lores and jaws with produced black shaft-tips. The obscure dusky streak on throat and the pale tips to the rectrices, frequently seen in Philippine specimens, are said to be characteristic of birds of the year. Length, about 190. A male in fresh plumage from Calayan measures: Wing, 85; tail, 77; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 13; tarsus, 26. A female from Calayan, wing, 80; tail, 68; culmen from base, 18; bill from nostril, 13; tarsus, 24.

This species is resident in Bohol and specimens from that island are smaller than those taken in Calayan and in Luzon during migration.

Genus TRIBURA Hodgson, 1845.

"Bill to gape equal to head or less, straight, cylindric, compressed; at base higher than broad, and having the ridge raised and keeled between the oval apert nares; tip of upper mandible scarcely inclined but distinctly notched; rictus smooth; wings short and feeble but not much or equally gradated; first two quills conspicuously gradated, three next subequal and longest; tail more or less elongated and gradated throughout, rather cuneate than fan-shaped and somewhat rigid or worn; tarsi stout, smooth, longer than the mid toe and nail; toes and nails simple, compressed, inner fore with its nail exceeding the outer fore, central elongate, hind least; nails acute." (Hodgson.)

553. TRIBURA SEEBOHMI (Grant).

SEEBOHM'S GRASS WARBLER.

Lusciniola seebohmi Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. (1895), 4, 40; Ibis (1895), 443; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 211 (habits). Tribura seebohmi Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 191; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 88.

Luzon (Whitehead).

"Seebohm's grass warbler belongs to the section of the genus Lusciniola in which the first primary is half or more than half the length of the second, the sides of the head and ear-coverts brown, the throat pure white and devoid of spots, and the tail considerably longer than the wing.

"Clearly the nearest allies to this species are L. luteiventris and L. mandellii. In these three species the wing-formula is as follows:

"L. luteiventris. Fourth quill slightly longer than, rarely subequal to, the fifth; third intermediate between fifth and sixth.

"L. mandellii, L. seebohmi. Fifth somewhat longer than the fourth and sixth, which are subequal, and distinctly longer than the third.

"The present species differs from both its allies in having the general color of the upper parts browner, the white on the chin and throat more extensive and shading into grayish on the sides of the neck; while the sides and flanks are more grayish brown in tint and but slightly washed with buff; the lower mandible appears to have been yellowish white, as in L. luteiventris. Length, 147; wing, 51; tail, 63.5; tarsus, 20; middle toe with claw, 19." (Grant.)

Genus ORTHOTOMUS Horsfield, 1821.

Bill long, depressed basally, compressed near the tip, with no notch at tip of mandible; rictal bristles few and moderate in length; no bristles on forehead; chin-feathers without lengthened shafts; wing short, rounded, and curved to the body; first primary less than one-half second, the latter considerably shorter than the fourth; fifth, sixth, and seventh subequal and longest; secondaries but little shorter than primaries; rectrices long, narrow, strongly graduated, and their tips rounded; tarsus about equal to culmen from base; outstretched feet usually reaching to, or beyond, the tip of tail; colors largely green, chestnut, gray, and white; or green, black, and gray or yellow.

Species.

a1. Top of head, or the forehead at least, chestnut.