Part 301

"Adult female * * *.--Paler and dingier than the male; under parts pale canary-yellow from throat backward. Wing, 71; tail, 61; tarsus, 17.5.

"Remarks.--Specimens in the U. S. National Museum, collected on the Island of Siquijor, Philippine Islands, by F. S. Bourns and D. C. Worcester, are exactly like Basilan specimens taken in February, 1888, and must be included as belonging to this species. Lowland birds from Mindanao Island connect the forms apoensis and basilanica." (Mearns.)

Specimens from Siquijor, although larger than true H. apoensis, seem to be nearly like this species in color.

The titmouse of Sulu and Tawi Tawi is probably not true Parus elegans.

The construction of a key to the species of silvereyes is rendered very difficult by the nature of the characters upon which a number of the species are based. Some of the species can be determined only by the actual comparison of specimens in fresh plumage. Immediately following the molt, the colors are bright and yellowish, but after a few months the feathers become much abraded and the colors become duller, dingier and greener.

The identity of Porter's Caluya specimen with Zosterops aureiloris is somewhat doubtful.

Gould's type came from "Manila," its collector is unknown and Dicæum retrocinctum has not been found in Luzon by any recent collector. It seems probable that the type was not collected in Luzon.

Steere did not record this species from Marinduque, but in Bourns and Worcester's MS. notes I find the remark: "Doubtless also Marinduque." Cf. also Worcester and Bourns, Distribution List, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Washington (1898), 20, 560, no. 361.

Sharpe's original diagnosis of Dicæum sibutuense is as follows: "D. simile, D. trigonostigmati, sed gutture saturate schistaceo, macula dorsale aurantiaca distinguendum. Long. tot. 3.2 poll., culm. 0.45, alæ 2.0, caudæ 0.85, tarsi 0.5."

The original diagnosis and description of Dicæum flaviventer, from which the above description is taken, are as follows:

"Dicæum D. rubriventri Less. similis, sed parte media pectoris abdominisque cadmiumino-flava, capite supra dorsoque virescentibus et uropygio obscure ardesiaco distinguendum.

"Long. al. 55, caud. 30, tars. 12, culm. 10.5 mm. ().

"Hab. Insula Philippinarum Cebú.

"Kopf, Oberrücken und Flügeldecken grünlich schwarz mit etwas Glanz. Schwingen schwärzlichbraunn, die Secundaren mit grünlich glänzenden Rändern auf der Aussenfahne. Unterrücken und schwanzdecken, dunkel schieferfarbig. Schwanz schwarz. Kehle vorn und an den Seiten weiss, untere Kehle und Brust, sowie die Seiten des Unterkörpers hell aschgrau, in der Mitte desselben ein schöner cadmiumgelber, bis 6 mm breiter Streif (Ridgway: cadmium-yellow Pl. VI, 6), nach dem After zu in Weiss übergehend; untere Schwanzdecken, Axillaren und untere Flügeldecken weiss, die äusseren mit einem schwärzlichen Fleck in der Mitte. Hosen aussen weiss, hinten terminal schwärzlich. Füsse braun. Schnabel schwarz, kräftig."

Celestino's specimens were recorded by mistake as Dicæum papuense, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1906), 1, 907.

I have not seen the females of C. guimarasensis and C. flagrans.

"Characters.--Most closely resembling Cyrtostomus jugularis jugularis of Luzon, but slightly larger, with the upper parts olive-green instead of brownish olive-gray; under parts nearly uniform lemon-yellow instead of canary-yellow." (Mearns.)

"Characters.--Smaller than Cyrtostomus jugularis aurora, C. jugularis jugularis, or C. jugularis dinagatensis, old males differing from all three in the metallic reflections on the middle of the dark metallic plastron, which are bluish and violet instead of green-blue; under parts shading very gradually from rich orange, adjoining the dark metallic plastron, to clear yellow on the crissum and under tail-coverts; back a more golden olive-green than in the other Philippine forms; forehead, lores, and superciliary stripe solid metallic violet purple." (Mearns.)

Hartert's remarks on Anthreptes malaccensis wiglesworthi are as follows: "Kopfseiten fast so roth wie bei rhodolaema, Unterseite wie bei chlorigaster (siehe oben). (Meinem zu früh verstorbenen ornithologischen Freunde Wiglesworth gewidmet, der mit A. B. Meyer zusammen in den 'Birds of Celebes' interessante Notizen über diese Gruppe gab.) Sulu Inseln. Typus Tring Museum, Sulu I. v. '83, Powell coll. Alle Stücke von den Sulu Inseln, die ich sah, sind ohne Zweifel zur gleichen Form zu rechnen."

Philippine specimens of this genus may be the recently described Budytes flavus alascensis but no specimens of that race are available for comparison. Cf. Ridgway, Bds. North and Middle America (1904), 3, 8 and 10.

Cf. Richmond, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Washington (1903), 26, 504.

In the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum this species falls under "a. With the hind claw decidedly shorter than the hallux." but in the figures of the foot in the Catalogue and in the Fauna of British India the claw is decidedly longer than the hallux, and Sharpe (p. 565) says: "Hind claw long and straight, a trifle shorter than hind toe, but sometimes longer."

Coues describes this, the most important character of the family, in the following words: "But the most tangible characteristic of the family [Fringillidæ] is angulation of the commissure. The commissure runs in a straight line, or with a slight curve, to or near to the base of the bill, and is then more or less abruptly bent down at a varying angle--the cutting edge of the upper mandible forming a reëntrance, that of the lower mandible a corresponding salience. In familiar terms, we might say that the corners of the mouth are drawn down--that the finches, though very merry little birds, are literally 'down in the mouth.' In the great majority of cases this feature is unmistakable, and in the grosbeaks, for example, it is very strongly marked indeed; but in some of the smaller-billed forms, and especially those with slender bills, it is hardly perceptible."

This species is called "tree sparrow" by some authors.

Chlorura Reichenbach, 1863, is preoccupied by Chlorura Sclater, 1862.

Grant's diagnosis of Chlorura brunneiventris follows: "C. similis C. borneensi, Sharpe, sed abdomine quoque rufescente, pectore concolore; pectoris lateribus caeruleo lavatis; fronte caerulea laetiore et minus extensa. Long. tot. 4.2 poll., alae 2.3."

"Characters.--Slightly larger than Dicrurus balicassius from Luzon Island; also differing in having the metallic reflections of the upper parts and breast greenish blue instead of bluish green.

"Measurements of type (adult male).--Wing, 148; tail, 130; culmen, 27; tarsus, 25." (Mearns.)