Part 241

"Eye straw-yellow; bill vermilion; orbital skin gray; legs light brown." (Whitehead.)

600. CALLISITTA OENOCHLAMYS (Sharpe).

LOWLAND NUTHATCH.

Dendrophila oenochlamys Sharpe, Trans. Linn. Soc. 2d. ser. Zool. (1877), 1, 338, pl. 53, fig. 3; Hand-List (1903), 4, 351; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 227 (distribution). Sitta oenochlamys Gadow, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1883), 8, 359. Callisitta oenochlamys McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 94 (error in locality list).

Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Guimaras (Steere); Luzon (Whitehead, McGregor); Negros (Whitehead, Celestino); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester).

Adult male.--A small white spot on lower part of lores; very similar to Callisitta palawana, but slightly darker blue above, bases of mantle feathers vinaceous-buff forming an ill-defined patch; under parts slightly darker than in C. palawana and more strongly washed with lilac; ear-coverts washed with blue. A male from Bataan Province, Luzon, measures: Length, 127; wing, 75; tail, 41; culmen from base, 16; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 17.

Adult female.--Similar to the male, but lacking the black line over eye and auriculars.

601. CALLISITTA MESOLEUCA (Grant).

HIGHLAND NUTHATCH.

Dendrophila mesoleuca Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. (1894), 3, 49; Ibis (1895), 450, pl. 4, fig. 2; Whitehead, Ibis (1899); 227 (habits, plumage); Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 351. Callisitta mesoleuca McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 94.

Ta-ká, Benguet.

Luzon (Whitehead, McGregor, Worcester, Mearns, Bartsch).

Adult male.--A small white spot on lower part of lores; middle of mantle with the bases of feathers pale vinaceous-buff to whitish, forming a patch; under parts pale buff with no lilac wash; throat and chin very pale, almost white. Iris yellow; bill and bare skin around eye greenish yellow; legs and nails dark green. Length, about 140; wing, 75; tail, 43; culmen from base, 15; bill from nostril, 10.5; tarsus, 16.

Adult female.--Differs from the male in having no black line over the eye to nape. Wing, 72; tail, 40; culmen from base, 17; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 16.

Callisitta mesoleuca is very abundant in the mountains of Benguet Province, while C. oenochlamys inhabits the forests of the lowlands.

602. CALLISITTA LILACEA (Whitehead).

LILAC-FACED NUTHATCH.

Dendrophila lilacea Whitehead, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1897), 6, 49; Ibis (1899), 228; Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 351; Grant, Ibis (1906), 474. Callisitta lilacea McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 94.

Basilan (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Leyte (Whitehead); Mindanao (Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow); Samar (Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead).

Adult male.--Spot on lower part of lores buff; hind neck, mantle, and sides of neck vinaceous-buff, washed with lilac; throat vinaceous-buff deepening to vinaceous-cinnamon on chest, and on the rest of under parts which are heavily washed with lilac. A male from Basilan measures: Length, 120; wing, 73; tail, 39; culmen from base, 15; bill from nostril, 10; tarsus, 16.

Adult female.--Similar to the male, but lacking the black line over eye to nape. A female from Basilan measures: Wing, 70; tail, 40; culmen from base, 16; bill from nostril, 10; tarsus, 15.

Family CERTHIIDÆ.

Bill gently curved, moderate in length, slender, decidedly compressed beyond nostril, and with an obsolete notch in cutting edge near tip; culmen with a distinct ridge; nostril-opening linear, exposed, and overhung by an operculum; rictal bristles few and very short; no frontal bristles; a number of long retrorse hairs springing from among the feathers of forehead; wing moderate in length, flat, and somewhat pointed; first primary slender and less than one-third of second, the latter nearly equal to third, fourth, and fifth which are subequal and longest; tail square, little more than one-half of wing; divisions between tarsal scutes obsolete; tarsus, longer than bill from nostril, and equal to, or shorter than, middle toe with claw. The characters detailed above are taken from Rhabdornis, a genus not typical of the family, but the only Philippine representative of the Certhiidæ.

Genus RHABDORNIS Reichenbach, 1853.

Characters the same as those given for the Family. Upper parts brown or gray, and black, streaked with white; under parts white, sides streaked with brown or black.

Species.

a1. Head and nape heavily streaked with white.

b1. Bill longer, about 16 mm. from nostril; upper parts grayer. ... mystacalis (p. 612) b2. Bill shorter, about 14 mm. from nostril; upper parts browner. ... minor (p. 612)