Part 263

GUIMARAS SUNBIRD.

Cinnyris guimarasensis Steere, List Birds & Mams. Steere Exped. (1890), 22; Bourns and Worcester, Minnesota Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. Papers (1894), 1, 55 (female); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 99.

Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Negros (Keay, Celestino); Panay (Bourns & Worcester).

"Adult male.--Forehead and crown metallic green with violet reflections; hind head, neck, and upper part of mantle dark blood-red; back olive-yellow; chin violet; cheeks, sides of neck, and throat velvety black; breast rich orange separated from the black of the throat by a sulphur-yellow band; a central stripe on the throat, partly concealed, of rich vermilion; flanks and abdomen pale yellow. Length, 89; wing, 48." (Steere.)

"Adult female.--Head and nape light olive-green, becoming browner on back, wing-coverts, and outer webs of secondaries; upper tail-coverts like back; tail black, webs of central pair of feathers washed with same color as back; sides of face dark ashy gray, edges of feathers darker than centers; chin light yellow; entire throat gray, faintly washed with yellow; entire breast bright orange-yellow paler on flanks, abdomen, and under tail-coverts; axillars, under wing-coverts, and inner webs of quills pure white." (Bourns and Worcester.)

"The length of our specimens was not taken in the flesh. Average from six males: Wing, 48; tail, 31; culmen, 20; tarsus, 14; middle toe with claw, 13. Six females, wing, 44; tail, 28; culmen, 18; tarsus, 13; middle toe with claw, 13. Bill, iris, legs, feet, and nails black." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

669. CINNYRIS JUGULARIS (Linnæus).

YELLOW-BREASTED SUNBIRD.

Certhia jugularis Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 185. Cinnyris jugularis Shelley, Monogr. Nectarin. pt. 3 (1877), 151, pt. 6 (1878), pl. 48; Gadow, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1884), 9, 84; Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 243 (eggs); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 230 (habits); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 99. Cinnyris obscurior Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1894), 3, 1; (1895), 451. Cyrtostomus dinagatensis Mearns, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. (1905), 18, 5. Cyrtostomus jugularis mindanensis Mearns, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. (1909), 36, 443. Cyrtostomus jugularis woodi Mearns, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. (1909), 36, 444.

Tam-si, Bohol; pú-si-u, Ticao and Masbate; pi-pít pú-go, Manila.

Bantayan (McGregor); Basiao, off Samar (Bartsch); Basilan (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Bohol (Everett, McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Caluya (Porter); Camiguin S. (Murray); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Dinagat (Everett); Guimaras (Meyer, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Everett, Steere Exp., Whitehead); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor, Bartsch); Maestre de Campo (McGregor & Worcester); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Bartsch); Mindanao (Steere, Everett, Koch & Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, Goodfellow); Mindoro (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Meyer, Steere, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Keay); Panay (Steere, Murray, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Polillo (McGregor); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Semirara (Worcester); Sibay (McGregor & Worcester); Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor); Verde (McGregor).

Male.--Above olive-green, brightest on the rump; chin, throat, and chest glossy blue-black washed with dark aster-purple; remainder of under parts gamboge-yellow, darkest next to the black chest-patch; wing-feathers dark brown, outer webs edged with olive-green, inner webs edged with white; rectrices black, two or three outer pairs tipped with white. Bill, legs, and nails black. A male from Bohol measures: Wing, 55; tail, 38; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 15; tarsus, 15.

Female.--Above similar to the male; below gamboge- or lemon-yellow, whitish on the chin, and with obscure dusky mottlings on the throat, brightest yellow on middle of breast and abdomen. A female from Siquijor measures: Wing, 50; tail, 33; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 15; tarsus, 15.

The young male resembles the female and from this plumage gradually acquires the black throat and chest. In many specimens (very old males?) there is more or less orange next to the black chest, while the forehead and a small area above the eye often develop a few metallic blue feathers.

"This sunbird shows great variability in the color of the breast, some specimens having an amount of orange approximating, but never quite equaling, that displayed by C. aurora. Ten males average: Length, 119; wing, 56; tail, 40; culmen, 21; tarsus, 14; middle toe with claw, 14. Ten females, length, 114; wing, 52; tail, 36; culmen, 20; middle toe with claw, 14; tarsus, 14. Bill, legs, feet, and nails black; iris very dark brown. Breeds in February and March." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Three eggs of the yellow-breasted sunbird from Marinduque, May 17, 1888, collected by Steere, are described as follows: "Shape ovate. Ground-color whitish partially obscured by the mottled gray under markings, which cover the greater part of the shell; over markings pale brown, with a few spots and irregular marks of a deep brown. Measurements 16 mm. by 12 mm.

"The nest is a neatly woven pocket-shaped structure, with a roofed entrance at the side. It is composed of fiber, dead grasses, and other forest débris bound together with spiders' webs and lined with cotton and fine grass." (Grant and Whitehead.)

670. CINNYRIS AURORA (Tweeddale).

ORANGE-BREASTED SUNBIRD.

Cyrtostomus aurora Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1878), 620. Cinnyris aurora Shelley, Monogr. Nectarin. pts. 9 & 10 (1879), 149, pts. 11 & 12 (1880), pl.; Gadow, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1884), 9, 88; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 99.

A-ru-ma-sít, Cuyo; da-gu-man', Cagayancillo.

Agutaya (McGregor); Balabac (Steere Exp.); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Palawan (Everett, Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, White).

Male.--Very similar to the male of C. jugularis, but distinguished by a patch or broad band of orpiment-orange next to the black chest. A male from Cuyo measures: Wing, 55; tail, 37; culmen from base, 21; bill from nostril, 17; tarsus, 16.

Female.--Similar to the female of C. jugularis. A female from Siquijor measures: Wing, 50; tail, 34; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 15; tarsus, 15.

The young male gradually acquires the black chin and throat in the manner of C. jugularis and develops the orange patch at the same time.

"Ten males average: Length, 120; wing, 55; tail, 39; culmen, 22; tarsus, 15; middle toe with claw, 15. Three females, length, 109; wing, 51; tail, 36; culmen, 22; tarsus, 14; middle toe with claw, 14. Iris dark brown; bill, legs, feet, and nails black. Breeding in December in Palawan and in February in Culion. Called by natives of Palawan 'chee-wit'." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Genus ANTHREPTES Swainson, 1831.

Bill as long as head, slightly curved, and stouter than in the other Philippine genera of this family; nasal opercles without feathers; tail nearly square. Male with upper parts, sides of neck, and a line along each side of throat metallic colored; under parts without metallic feathers; female with shorter bill than the male and without metallic colors.