Part 234

Forehead black; crown either black or dark slate-gray; without a white eyebrow.

Species.

a1. Tail much shorter, less than 100 mm.; crown, neck, and back nearly uniform slaty gray ... validirostris (p. 594) a2. Tail much longer, more than 120 mm.; crown and neck black, back light gray.

b1. Scapulars, back, and rump darker; abdomen white ... nasutus (p. 594) b2. Scapulars, back, and rump lighter; abdomen pinkish vinaceous. ... suluensis (p. 595)

578. CEPHALOPHONEUS VALIDIROSTRIS (Grant).

STRONG-BILLED SHRIKE.

Lanius validirostris Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1894), 3, 49; Ibis (1894), 512; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 226 (habits). Cephalophoneus validirostris Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 286; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 92.

Luzon (Whitehead, Worcester, McGregor); Mindoro (Whitehead).

Adult male.--Upper parts slate-gray, pale gray on forehead and over eye; frontal band, lores, ear-coverts, and line above and below eye black, forming a broad band to side of neck; under parts white; flanks cinnamon-buff, crissum faintly washed with buff; thighs black; wings blackish; inner secondaries margined with white on outer webs; rectrices blackish, the two or three outer pairs narrowly tipped with white. Bill and nails black; legs blackish brown; iris dark brown. Length, about 210; wing, 87; tail, 97; culmen from base, 17; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 24.

"Adult female.--Differs slightly in having the black on the sides of the face paler and absent on the forehead, which is whitish gray; the whitish gray margins to the superciliaries are more marked; the margins to the secondaries are rufous-buff, and the thighs are gray. Length, 200; wing, 86; tail, 89; tarsus, 25; culmen, 23." (Grant.)

Young.--Young birds, in first plumage, have the upper part smoky gray; frontal band, lores, and band through eye black; chin, throat, and middle of abdomen white; thighs black; remainder of under parts tawny-buff; breast and malar region speckled with smoky brown, but no bars on the under parts; wings and tail blackish brown; greater secondary-coverts, inner secondaries and nearly all the remiges edged with tawny-buff.

The strong-billed shrike is fairly abundant in Benguet Province, Luzon.

579. CEPHALOPHONEUS NASUTUS (Scopoli).

LARGE-NOSED SHRIKE.

Lanius nasutus Scopoli, Del Flor. et Faun. Insubr. (1786), 2, 85; Oates, Bds. Brit. Burmah (1883), 1, 248; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 226 (habits). Lanius cephalomelas Gadow, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1883), 8, 269. Cephalophoneus nasutus Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 287; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1905), 4, 289; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 92.

Ta-rat San Diego, Manila.

Bohol (Steere Exp., McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Cebu (Meyer, Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Leyte (Everett); Luzon (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor, Bartsch); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Everett, Koch & Schadenberg, Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Everett); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Keay); Panay (Sonnerat, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino). Northern Borneo.

Adult.--Entire top and sides of head, hind neck, and sides of neck black; mantle light gray shading into ocherous buff on scapulars, back, rump and tail-coverts; under parts white; sides and flanks ocherous buff; crissum light buff; thighs white; wings and tail black; inner webs of wing-quills edged with white; fifth to eighth primaries with a small white spot near base of outer webs; inner secondaries more or less edged and tipped with pale buff or white; edge of wing, of first alula quill, and of first and second primaries white; rectrices narrowly tipped with pale buff or white, two outermost pairs edged with pale buff or white; all the rectrices fringed with pale buff at base. Iris brown; bill, legs, and nails black. Length, 240 to 245. A male from Siquijor measures: Wing, 88; tail, 125; culmen from base, 18; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 26. A female, wing, 88; tail, 124; culmen from base, 18; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 26.

"Quite common in some localities, especially in Siquijor, but less abundant than O. lucionensis. Habits the same, and frequents precisely the same localities. Three males from Mindanao average: Length, 240; wing, 88; tail, 120; culmen, 21; tarsus, 26; middle toe with claw, 23. Two females from Culion, length, 228; wing, 87; tail, 113; culmen, 20; tarsus, 25; middle toe with claw, 23. Iris dark brown to black." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

580. CEPHALOPHONEUS SULUENSIS Mearns.

SULU SHRIKE.

Lanius cephalomelas Guillemard, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1885), 257. Lanius nasutus Worcester and Bourns, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. (1898), 20, 561, no. 391 (part). Cephalophoneus nasutus Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 287 (part). Cephalophoneus suluensis Mearns, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. (1905), 18, 86; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 92.

Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester, Mearns.)

Adult male.--"Whole top [of head] and sides of neck, and hind neck black; mantle gray (No. 10 Ridgway), fading to pale cream-buff on back; scapulars pale cream-buff, broadly bordered with white; rump and upper tail-coverts pinkish buff; primaries black with an exposed spot of white, formed by white bands crossing the external webs of third to seventh primaries opposite the end of the alula; secondaries black, tipped and edged externally with white; tail black, with outer feathers gray at base, tipped with grayish white; chin, throat, breast, thighs, axillars, and lining of wings pure white; side buff; abdomen pinkish vinaceous; under tail-coverts buffy white. Length (of skin), 240; wing, 95; tail, 135; culmen, 17; depth of bill at angle of gonys, 8.7; tarsus, 28.

"In size and color pattern this species closely resembles Lanius nasutus Scopoli from which it may be distinguished by the pale color of the scapulars, back, and rump, as well as by the pinkish vinaceous color of the abdomen." (Mearns.)

The long-tailed shrikes collected in Sulu by Bourns and Worcester and by Guillemard were probably of this species. I have not seen a specimen from Sulu.

Genus OTOMELA Bonaparte, 1853.

The Philippine species of Otomela may be recognized by the nearly uniformly colored upper parts, narrow, white or pale buff, superciliary stripe, and short tail; wing and tail about equal in length.