Part 238

HOMEYER'S THICKHEAD.

Hyloterpe homeyeri Blasius, Jour. für Orn. (1890), 143; Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 313; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 93.

Bongao (Everett); Sibutu (Everett); Sulu (Platen, Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester).

Adult.--Upper parts, including margins of wing-feathers and rectrices, reddish brown (walnut-brown of Ridgway); head slightly darker; sides of neck like the back; auriculars vinaceous-cinnamon; under parts white; chin, throat, and fore breast streaked with cinnamon; sides of breast and flanks cinnamon; crissum washed with pale canary-yellow. A male from Tawi Tawi measures: Wing, 84; tail, 66; culmen from base, 18; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 20. A female, wing, 74; tail, 62; culmen from base, 17; bill from nostril, 10; tarsus, 20.

"Common in Tawi Tawi, less so in Sulu. A deep woods bird; tame and easily shot. Feeds on insects, and usually keeps some distance above the ground. Six males average: Length, 157; wing, 81; tail, 64; culmen, 17.8; tarsus, 19.5; middle toe with claw, 18. Four females, length, 150; wing, 77; tail, 63; culmen, 17.8; tarsus, 19; middle toe with claw, 17.8. Iris dark brown; legs, feet, and nails light brown; bill black. Breeding in Tawi Tawi in the month of September." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Family PARIDÆ.

Bill conoidal and stout, shorter than head; no notch in cutting edge, and tip not hooked; nostrils slightly oval, hidden by the antrorse frontal plumes; rictal bristles short and inconspicuous; wing flat and somewhat pointed; first primary less than one-half of second, the latter less than the third; fourth and fifth longest; third and sixth about equal in length; rectrices broad with nearly square tips; tail much shorter than wing; tarsus stout, less than twice the bill from nostril, distinctly scutellate in front; basal joints of anterior toes more or less united.

Genera.

a1. Breast and abdomen yellow; rectrices tipped with white or with pale yellow. ... Pardaliparus (p. 604) a2. Breast and abdomen black, or dull brown, nearly uniform in color with the back; rectrices without white or light-colored tips. ... Penthornis (p. 608)

Genus PARDALIPARUS Selys-Longchamps, 1884.

Chin, throat, and much or all of the head black; breast and abdomen yellow; rectrices and many of the wing-feathers with wide tips of white or of pale yellow.

Species.

a1. A broad yellow band from below eye across auriculars to side of neck, separating the black of chin and throat from the black of head.

b1. Larger; bill longer; spots on wing-coverts larger and more nearly white.

c1. Bill much smaller; spot on hind neck and stripe on side of head and neck bright canary-yellow.

d1. Back and scapulars more olive-green. ... elegans (p. 605) d2. Back and scapulars white. ... albescens (p. 606)

c2. Bill much larger; spot on neck and stripe on side of head and neck very pale yellow. ... edithæ (p. 606)

b2. Smaller; bill shorter; spots on wing-coverts smaller and washed with yellow. ... mindanensis (p. 607)

a2. No yellow band on side of head and neck, which are entirely black. ... amabilis (p. 607)

592. PARDALIPARUS ELEGANS (Lesson).

ELEGANT TITMOUSE.

Parus elegans Lesson, Traité d'Orn. (1831), 456; Gadow, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1883), 8, 22; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 224 (habits). Pardaliparus elegans Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 328; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 94 (part).

Pi-pít mó-tas, Manila.

Bongao (Everett); Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Guimaras (Steere, Steere Exp.); Luzon (Cuming, Everett, Möllendorff, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Mearns, Bartsch); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester).*

Male.--Entire top of head and hind neck glossy black; in the center of hind neck a large irregular yellow spot; upper back mostly black, but with some large spots of pale yellow; scapulars, lower back, and rump olive-green; tail-coverts black; chin, throat, chest, and sides of chest glossy black, separated from the black of head and neck by a broad lemon-yellow stripe which begins under the front of the eye and ends on side of neck; remainder of under parts lemon-yellow; wings black; inner webs of quills edged with white; most of the primaries white toward the tips of outer webs; secondaries and some of the primaries tipped with white; greater and median secondary-coverts with broad white tips, forming two wing-bars; rectrices black, tipped with white, three outer pairs with white on outer webs. Iris and bill black; feet and nails plumbeous. Length, about 120; wing, 65; tail, 42; culmen from base, 11; bill from nostril, 8; tarsus, 17.

Female.--Duller, the chin and throat dark brown instead of glossy black. An adult breeding female from Benguet Province, Luzon, measures: Wing, 62; tail, 37; culmen from base, 11.5; bill from nostril, 8.5; tarsus, 18.

Young.--Birds of the year have the entire upper parts olive-green, but the yellow nuchal patch is always indicated; under parts gray to pale yellow, somewhat washed with olive; chin and throat more or less uniform with the abdomen, but the black patch beginning to show in older individuals; wings and tail marked as in the adult.

"The habits of the elegant titmouse are like those of P. amabilis; it feeds in leaves at the ends of branches, often back downward. Ten males average: Length, 110; wing, 63; tail, 37.5; culmen, 12; tarsus, 17; middle toe with claw, 16. Four females, length, 101; wing, 59; tail, 35; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 15; culmen, 11. Iris dark brown; legs and feet slaty blue to black; bill black; nails gray. We found this species breeding in Cebu in the month of June." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)