Part 271

Genera.

a1. Mandibles falcate; the tips crossed ... Loxia (p. 676) a2. Mandibles not falcate; the tips not crossed; culmen and gonys straight or but little curved.

b1. Bill blunt and very stout, its width at nostril equal to bill from nostril. ... Pyrrhula (p. 677) b2. Bill sharp and slender, or only moderately stout, its width at nostril much less than bill from nostril.

c1. Culmen and gonys gently curved; tail nearly square; top of head liver-brown; a large black patch on chin and throat; no yellow in the plumage ... Passer (p. 680) c2. Culmen and gonys nearly straight; tail slightly forked; plumage more or less yellow.

d1. Gonys relatively long, being about twice as long as its ramus.

e1. Larger; culmen flat; bill but slightly compressed even at the tip; chest orange-rufous ... Fringilla (p. 679) e2. Smaller; culmen with a slight ridge; terminal half of bill abruptly and greatly compressed; tip acute; chest lemon-yellow. ... Spinus (p. 681)

d2. Gonys relatively short, being less than twice as long as its ramus. ... Emberiza (p. 682)

Genus LOXIA Linnæus, 1758.

Bill compressed, the tips crossed; both culmen and gonys strongly curved; wings covering about half the tail. Adult male almost entirely red, adult female partly yellow, and young of both sexes heavily streaked.

691. LOXIA LUZONIENSIS Grant.

PHILIPPINE CROSSBILL.

Loxia luzoniensis Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1894), 3, 51; Ibis (1894), 516; Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 244 (eggs); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 239 (nesting habits); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 103.

Cu-di-li-guit, Benguet Igorot.

Luzon (Whitehead, Worcester, McGregor).

Adult male.--Head and body geranium-red, clearest and brightest on rump, tail-coverts, and under parts, more pinkish on throat, paler on abdomen; lores, malar stripe, and ear-coverts dusky; feathers of back and wing-coverts with dusky bases; thighs drab-gray; under tail-coverts white, washed with geranium-pink, and with pointed shaft-markings of dark brown; wings and tail blackish, the larger feathers narrowly edged with geranium-pink. Length, about 140; wing, 82; tail, 51; culmen from base, 15; tarsus, 15.

Adult female.--Feathers of upper parts dark brown with lighter edges; feathers of back edged with pale yellow; feathers on anterior part of crown edged with light chrome-yellow; rump and tail-feathers nearly uniform light chrome-yellow; nasal plumes, lores, and line under eye whitish; cheeks and ear-coverts blackish brown; under parts drab-gray, chin and throat nearly white; breast and abdomen with a faint olive or yellow wash; tail-coverts white with pointed shaft-markings; wing-feathers and rectrices blackish with narrow edges of gray or pale yellow. A female, wing, 80; tail, 49; culmen from base, 16; tarsus, 15.

Young birds are dingy white heavily streaked, both above and below, with blackish brown and more or less washed with olive-gray, olive-yellow, or light chrome-yellow. Older individuals, probably of the second summer, lose the dark streaks and become extensively yellow, while still older males become indiscriminately mottled with red and yellow.

"In the end of December, 1893, Mr. Whitehead noticed a pair of these crossbills with nesting materials in their bills. In the following January, while in the highlands of Benguet, he found a nest containing three eggs and situated at the end of a pine branch. The slender branch overhung a steep slope, and it was found impossible to secure the eggs. Again on Mount Data, towards the end of January, 1895, after much trouble, a second nest was discovered near the top of a high pine-tree. This nest contained four young birds, two of which flew away before they could be secured." (Grant and Whitehead.)

Genus PYRRHULA Brisson, 1760.

Bill very short, stout, and blunt; bill from nostril equal to its width, and to its depth at middle of nostril; culmen and gonys decidedly curved; tail nearly square. General color of body buffy brown; chin black; rump white.

Species.

a1. Larger; wing, 80 mm. or more ... leucogenys (p. 678) a2. Smaller; wing less than 80 mm.; general color more brownish. ... steerei (p. 678)

692. PYRRHULA LEUCOGENYS Grant.

PHILIPPINE BULLFINCH.

Pyrrhula leucogenys Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1895), 4, 41; Ibis (1895), 455, pl. 14 (leucogenis); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 239 (feeding chabits and young); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 103.

Luzon (Whitehead, Mearns, McGregor).

Adult male.--Forehead, entire top of head, upper tail-coverts, rectrices, and secondaries glossy steel-blue; lores, jaw, and chin black; cheeks and auriculars white, forming a large patch; back olive-brown; under parts lighter brown; middle of abdomen and under tail-coverts light ochraceous-brown; rump-band white; primaries black, edged with steel-blue; innermost secondary edged with orange-vermilion on the outer web; greater coverts widely tipped with light buff; axillars and wing-lining white. Iris dark brown; bill white or pale yellow, black at tip and along the cutting edges; legs pale flesh-color. Length, about 160; wing, 78; tail, 61; depth of fork, 12; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 16.5.

Adult female.--Like the male, except that the red on the innermost secondary is brownish orange. The difference is very slight and my specimens have no red whatever on the secondary. A female from Pauai, Mountain Province, Luzon, measures: Wing, 79; tail, 65; bill from nostril, 10; tarsus, 16.