Palawan (Platen). Eastern Siberia, Altai Mountains, Japan; China in winter.

“Adult male.—General color above brown; least wing-coverts uniform with the back, the greater series dark brown with lighter brown tips to the median series, the greater coverts tipped with whitish; primary-coverts and primaries dark brown, the secondaries edged with pale brown, whitish at the tips; tail dark brown; lores buffy white; in front of the eye a dusky spot; round the eye a ring of buffy white feathers; feathers below the eye and ear-coverts brown like the crown; cheeks white, mottled with brown bases to the feathers; throat white, widening out on the lower part and separated from the cheeks by a broad moustachial line of brown; breast and sides of body ashy brown the former slightly mottled with grizzly white edgings to the feathers; abdomen and under tail-coverts pure white; thighs brown; under wing-coverts light tawny, with dusky bases to the feathers, the quills ashy brown with an edging of light tawny to the inner webs. ‘Upper mandible dusky black; lower mandible yellowish brown, tipped with dusky; legs and feet brownish black; iris dark brown.’ (Armstrong.) Length, 124; culmen, 10; wing, 80; tail, 56; tarsus, 127.

“Observation.—The description is from a specimen collected by Dr. Radde in Eastern Siberia on the 18th of May, 1856, and therefore in full breeding plumage. Examples from other parts of China and the Himalayas are similar, but great variation takes place in this species as regards the tone and intensity of the brown color both on the upper and under surface, and also in the uniform or mottled color on the breast. The coloration of the throat is very different in individuals, being in some almost uniform brown, succeeded by a jugular spot of white.

“Young (Peking, Sept. 1868, R. Swinhoe).—Ashy brown, mottled with whitish streaks and terminal spots to the feathers, the greater coverts edged and tipped with buffy white, the rest of the coverts spotted with whitish at the tips like the back; primary-coverts and quills dark brown, the inner secondaries edged and tipped with pale rufous; under surface very thickly mottled with brown, the feathers being white with dusky brown edges.” (Sharpe.)

The Siberian flycatcher must be considered a rare winter visitant to the Philippine Islands.

Au-á, Cagayancillo.

Bohol (McGregor); Basilan (McGregor); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Cagayan Sulu (McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Caluya (Porter); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cuyo (McGregor); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Everett, Schmacker, Whitehead, McGregor); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, Bourns & Worcester, White); Panay (Steere); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester). Japan, China, Ussuri Land, New Guinea, Celebes, Moluccas.

Adult (sexes similar).—Above dusky brown; centers of feathers and head darker; wings and tail blackish brown; secondaries and wing-coverts fringed with white; below white; breast and sides of throat and of abdomen marked with wide, dusky brown shaft-streaks; middle of abdomen and under tail-coverts white; feathers of thighs brown, tipped with white. A male from Benguet measures: Length, 133; wing, 86; tail, 51; culmen from base, 12; bill from nostril, 8. A female from Culion measures: Length, 127; wing, 80; tail, 45; culmen from base, 11; bill from nostril, 7. The folded wing reaches nearly or quite to the end of the tail.

In the gray-spotted flycatcher there is some variation in the brown streaks of the under parts, but this species is not easily mistaken for any other bird except Piprisoma æruginosum which has a very differently shaped bill. The gray-spotted flycatcher is one of the commonest winter visitants and is found in small numbers throughout the islands.

“Fairly common; often seen perched on some isolated tree in the open, from which it flies now and then in pursuit of insects. Six males average: Length, 132; wing, 83.5; tail, 50; culmen, 13; tarsus, 14; middle toe with claw, 15. Four females, length, 128; wing, 81; tail, 49; culmen, 13; tarsus, 14; middle toe with claw, 15. Iris, legs, feet, and nails almost black; bill black, except base of lower mandible, which is yellowish or gray.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Mindoro (Mearns); Palawan (Everett). Khasi Hills, southern China, northern Borneo, Burmese provinces, Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Sumatra.

“Adult.—General color above rufous-brown, shading into chestnut on the rump and upper tail-coverts; head and nape sooty brown; least wing-coverts like the back, the remainder of the coverts and the secondaries blackish brown, edged and tipped with chestnut-rufous, paler on the margins of the inner secondaries; primary-coverts and primaries nearly uniform blackish brown, the first primary broadly edged with rufous; two center tail-feathers dusky brown, the remainder rufous, dusky brown along the outer web, the inner web more or less dusky near the tip; round the eye a distinct ring of buffy white feathers; lores rufous; feathers in front of and below the eye and the ear-coverts dusky brown, mottled with whitish shaft-lines or spots; under surface of body orange-rufous, the throat and sides of the breast shaded with dusky brown; center of abdomen white; throat pale rufous-buff, with dusky margins to most of the feathers; the bases of the plumes of the lower throat white, forming a concealed white patch; under wing-coverts deep orange-rufous; quills dark brown below, edged with light rufous along the inner web. ‘Bill black, with base of the lower mandible whitish; feet dull gray, with the soles yellow and the nails gray; iris brown.’ (David.) Length, 114; culmen, 11; wing, 71; tail, 51; tarsus, 13.

“Observation.—In some specimens the throat is pure white, with a malar streak on each side of dusky black; the outer tail-feathers appear gradually to lose all the dusky markings on the outer web.” (Sharpe.)

The ferruginous flycatcher is a rare winter visitant to the Philippine Islands. A specimen of doubtful sex taken in Mindoro by Doctor Mearns measures: Wing, 69; tail, 48; culmen from base, 10; tarsus, 12.5. The folded wings extend beyond the middle of the tail.

Bongao (54); Negros (Everett); Sulu (54). Ceylon, Indian Peninsula, Burmese provinces, Greater Sunda Islands, Moluccas, eastern Siberia, Japan, China.

“Coloration.—Upper plumage ashy brown, the feathers of the crown with darker centers; tail dark brown, the outer feathers very narrowly tipped with whitish; wings and coverts dark brown, all but the primaries broadly edged with ashy white; lores and a ring of feathers round the eye white; sides of head brown; lower plumage white, tinged with ashy on the breast and sides of the body.

“The young have the crown blackish, streaked with fulvous; the upper plumage and wings with large terminal fulvous spots; the lower plumage like that of the adult but mottled with brown. After the autumn molt and till the following spring the young are very rufous.

“Bill black, the base of the lower mandible yellow; mouth orange; iris brown; legs and claws black. The young bird has the whole bill yellow except the tip, which is dusky. Length rather more than 127; tail, 51; wing, 71; tarsus, 13; bill from gape, 18.” (Oates.)

“Young.—Differs from the adult in being flammulated above, the feathers having large ovate spots of ochraceous buff in their centers, the wing-coverts and quills being edged with rufous-buff; sides of face light brown, streaked with buff; under surface of body white, mottled with dusky brown edgings to the feathers; upper tail-coverts and edges to the tail-feathers rufous.

“Observation.—Considerable variation takes place in this species, but only as regards the color of the brown upper surface, which differs in intensity, and as regards the brown on the chest; this varies in extent, being sometimes broad, sometimes narrow, and occasionally dissolved into obscure streaks. The edges to the wing-coverts and quills are often rufescent, and this is probably a sign of immaturity.” (Sharpe.)

“Included in this list with a good deal of doubt. Sharpe includes the Philippines in the range of this species, but whether he had any other authority for so doing than the Marquis of Tweeddale’s identification of a single immature bird from Negros we do not know. We can find no other record of its occurrence in the Philippines, and are inclined to doubt its ever occurring there at all.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Luzon (Heriot, Whitehead).

“Adult male.—Like the male of S. pallidipes, but the sides and flanks are fawn-colored instead of pure white. Length, 152; culmen, 18; wing, 79; tail, 63; tarsus, 22.

“Adult female.—Even more different from the female of S. pallidipes: the lores are rust-colored instead of white, and a short superciliary band of the same color reaches as far as the eye, above this there is a line of pale blue feathers, confluent across the forehead; the basal part of the outer webs of the tail-feathers washed with pale blue instead of reddish chestnut. Sides of the face dark brown, shading gradually into the rust-colored throat, whereas in the female of S. pallidipes the sides of the head are gray, and sharply defined from the bright rust-colored throat. Length, 134; culmen, 16; wing, 74; tail, 55; tarsus, 18.” (Grant.)

I have not seen the description of Cyornis herioti so have quoted Grant’s description of Siphia enganensis which is the same species. It is evident that we have here a type differing from all the other Philippine species of the genus. The male may be recognized by the blue throat and breast. Heriot’s flycatcher is either very rare, or is confined to northern Luzon where it may prove to be abundant.

Mindoro (Mearns, McGregor); Palawan (Everett). Java.

“Adult male.—General color above uniform blue, the forehead brighter blue, extending backward over the eye; ear-coverts deep blue; a narrow frontal line from the base of the nostrils, lores, feathers round the eye, chin, and fore part of cheeks black; remainder of under surface of body rich orange-rufous, a little paler and inclining to white on the abdomen; sides of upper breast and thighs blue; wing-coverts blue like the back, the least and median series brighter blue, of about the same color as the forehead and eyebrow; quills dusky brown, externally blue, the inner secondaries entirely blue; tail-feathers dark blue, the outer ones black on the inner web; under wing-coverts and axillars orange-rufous, the edge of the wing blue; quills dusky brown below, lighter on the inner web. ‘Bill black; legs pale brownish lead-color; iris dark brown.’ (Everett.) Length, 142; culmen, 14; wing, 81; tail, 72; tarsus, 16.5.

“Adult female.—Similar to the male but distinguished by the white lores. ‘Bill black; legs purplish leaden gray; iris brown.’ (Everett.) Wing, 70; tail, 60; tarsus, 16.

“Young.—Robin like. Dusky brown with subterminal spots of orange-buff to all the feathers of the upper surface; wings and tail dusky, externally blue, the secondaries tipped with buff like the coverts; underneath orange-rufous, mottled with dusky margins to the feathers; abdomen whitish.” (Sharpe.)

“The existence of this species in Palawan rests upon a single skin collected at Puerto Princesa, which is indistinguishable from the male of S. banyumas as represented by a considerable series in the British Museum.” (Everett.)

In the Hand-List Sharpe restricts the distribution of the Javan cyornis to Java, although in the Catalogue of Birds he places in the synonymy of Siphia banyumas, the male collected in Palawan by Everett. Mearns has recently described, under the name of Cyornis mindorensis, two specimens which certainly seem to be distinct from C. philippinensis, but they agree with the description of C. banyumas and with the plate of that species in the Birds of Celebes. Mearns does not compare his species with C. banyumas, and he could not have done so, as there were no authentic specimens of C. banyumas at hand when he wrote his description. Unfortunately such specimens are still lacking. A male from Mariveles, Luzon and a female from Ticao Island differ from ordinary C. philippinensis in having the crissum orange-buff, but the color is not so deep as in the specimens from Mindoro. Cyornis mindorensis may eventually prove to be a distinct species, but for the present I shall consider it to be the same as C. banyumas.

Ca-man-tí-gon, Siquijor.

Bantayan (McGregor); Banton (Celestino); Basilan (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Cebu (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Dinagat (Everett); Guimaras (Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Everett); Luzon (Jagor, Möllendorff, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindanao (Everett, Goodfellow); Mindoro (Steere Exp., Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Everett, Keay); Panay (Steere); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Semirara (Worcester); Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor).

Male.—Above dark blue; a narrow band on forehead continued over each eye lighter blue, as also the lesser wing-coverts; primaries and secondaries black, edged with blue; shafts of rectrices black, inner webs of all but middle pair black; lores black; ear-coverts and sides of neck very dark blue; a black band across chin continued backward on each side of throat; throat, breast, and sides rich orange-rufous, slightly paler on throat; crissum and middle of abdomen white; thighs blue, some of the feathers tipped with white. Iris brown; bill black; legs pale bluish; nails dark blackish brown. Length of a male from Luzon, 140; wing, 73; tail, 61; culmen from base, 14; bill from nostril, 10; tarsus, 18.

Female.—Similar to the male, but lores pale buff; chin and sides of throat orange-rufous instead of black. Length of a female from Sibuyan, 157; wing, 78; tail, 64; culmen from base, 16; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 19.

“The Philippine cyornis is a common and wide spread species; it is found in deep forest, along wooded streams, and about clumps of bamboo in the open. Iris nearly black; legs, feet, and nails light slaty brown; bill black. Food worms and insects. Breeding in Cebu in July. Twenty males average: Length, 156; wing, 76; tail, 65; culmen, 17; tarsus, 18; middle toe with claw, 19. Ten females, length, 146; wing, 71; tail, 60; culmen, 16; tarsus, 17; middle toe with claw, 18.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Balabac (Everett); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Everett, Lempriere, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino).

“Adult male.—General color above dull blue, with half concealed tufts of white on the sides of the rump; lesser wing-coverts brighter cobalt, forming a shoulder-patch; median and greater series blackish, externally like the back; alula, primary-coverts, and quills black, with narrow margins of dull blue, broader on the secondaries; tail-feathers blackish, greenish blue externally; head like the back, the base of the forehead brighter cobalt, extending backward over the eye and forming an eyebrow; lores black; sides of face and ear-coverts and cheeks black, glossed with dull blue; a moustachial line of blue feathers tipped with white; a black chin spot; throat and fore neck orange-buff, extending down the sides of the body, but paler and inclining to whitish below the black chin-spot; center of breast and abdomen white, as also the under tail-coverts, with a slight tinge of buff; lateral breast-feathers tipped with blue, like the back; thighs white, with blackish bases; axillars and under wing-coverts white, slightly tinged with buff; edge of wing blue. Length, 150; culmen, 18; wing, 74; tail, 63; tarsus, 18.

“This species is closely allied to Siphia philippinensis, but is much larger, of a more greenish blue, and is especially distinguished by the white moustache, forming a narrow line down each side of the throat.” (Sharpe.)

“Female.—Forehead, crown, and occiput dark plumbeous-gray, washed with olive, each feather with narrow obsolete transverse bars, which are most pronounced on the forehead; sides of neck, mantle, scapulars, and back warm olivaceous-brown, deepening posteriorly into bright ferruginous-brown on the upper tail-coverts; rectrices dark sepia-brown, the exterior webs ferruginous-brown, except on the two central quills, which are wholly ferruginous-brown, and all showing in certain lights close obsolete transverse bars; under surface of the quills hair-brown; primaries dark brown, and all except the first and second margined basally on the outer webs by a thin line of ferruginous-brown; the secondaries and tertials also dark brown, but increasingly margined [with] bright ferruginous-brown until the entire outer webs are of the latter color; under wing-coverts, axillars, and edges of wing white, tinged with buff; major wing-coverts dark brown, with bright ferruginous-brown outer webs; the other coverts broadly tipped with bright ferruginous-brown; a conspicuous line from the nares over the eye and reaching nearly to the posterior angle of the orbit, and a line fringing the lower margin of the orbit, pure white (tinged with buff in some examples); lores black; ear-coverts dark gray, washed with olive; cheeks the same, but rather darker gray; sides and flanks olive-gray, washed with buff; chin white; throat pale buff, passing into deep orange-buff on the breast, on the sides of which some of the plumes show obsolete dusky margins; abdomen and lower tail-coverts white; thigh-plumes dark gray, edged with white. Length, 147; culmen, 17; wing, 73; tail, 60; tarsus, 17.

“In another female from Balabac the dimensions are rather less, but in my original Puerto Princesa specimen they agree very closely. This species is marked by its large bill. The culmen in the type-skin of the male, measured from its insertion in the skull, is 17 mm., and it is the same in a female collected by Mr. Whitehead at Taguso in Palawan.” (Everett.)

“Abundant in Palawan and the Calamianes islands. Habits like those of S. philippinensis. Five males average: Length, 149; wing, 75; tail, 64; culmen, 18; tarsus, 17; middle toe with claw, 18. Three females, length, 149; wing, 70; tail, 58; culmen, 17; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 17. Iris dark brown; legs and feet nearly black often tinged with bluish; bill black.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

The female of this species has been variously identified as Cyornis banyumas, Siphia elegans, and Cyornis herioti. Everett was the first ornithologist to describe it under the name Siphia lemprieri and his description is here quoted.

Palawan (Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Bourns & Worcester).

“Adult male.—General color above rufous-brown, with a slight olivaceous tinge; lesser wing-coverts like the back; median coverts, greater coverts, alula, primary-coverts, and quills blackish brown, more or less broadly edged with the same color as the back, a little more rufous on the latter; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers bright chestnut; crown of head like the back slightly washed with olive; lores ashy gray; feathers round the eye dusky; ear-coverts olive-brown, washed with tawny; cheeks, throat, and chest orange-rufous; breast and abdomen pure white, as well as the sides of body and flanks; thighs dusky brown; under tail-coverts pale tawny-rufous; under wing-coverts and axillars white; quills below dusky, whitish along their inner edge. Length, 107; culmen, 14; wing, 57; tail, 38; tarsus, 18.

“Adult female.—Similar to the male, but with the lores more tawny. Length, 107; culmen, 13; wing, 57; tail, 38; tarsus, 7.” (Sharpe.)

“Quite rare in the ground collected in by us. Found in thickets in the jungle or forest, and always near the ground. A male measures: Length, 117; wing, 60; tail, 40; culmen, 14; tarsus, 20; middle toe with claw, 19. Two females, length, 111; wing, 57; tail, 39; culmen, 14; tarsus, 19; middle toe with claw, 17. Iris nearly black; legs, feet, and nails light slate-color; bill black.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Luzon (Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Mearns, Goodfellow); Negros (Whitehead). Mountains of Celebes, of northwestern Borneo, and of the Malay Peninsula.

Adult male.—Above, including sides of head and neck, deep black; a wide white band over eye, extending from above lores to nape; lower parts white; wing blackish brown; greater coverts and edges of inner secondaries white, forming a conspicuous patch; tail black, all the rectrices, except the middle pair, with their basal halves white. Iris dark brown; bill, legs, and nails black. Length, about 115; wing, 59; tail, 43; culmen from base, 12; bill from nostril, 7; tarsus, 16.

Adult female.—Above ashy, washed with olive-brown, the latter color strongest on the rump; tail-coverts and edges of rectrices rusty brown; below white; breast, sides, and flanks washed with ashy brown; wings and tail blackish brown. Wing, 56; tail, 40; bill from nostril, 7; tarsus, 161.

Young.—Above slate-gray, heavily washed with olive-brown, the feathers with median spots of ochraceous; below white, the feathers fringed with blackish brown; wing-coverts and secondaries edged with light ochraceous; tips of the greater coverts forming a light bar.

Westermann’s flycatcher is very common in Benguet Province, Luzon, where it breeds.

Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (Whitehead, McGregor); Mindoro (Whitehead).

Adult male.—Entire upper parts and sides of neck dark slate-gray; lores, sides of head, and jaw black; from lores over eye a partly concealed band of pure silky white; wings blackish brown; coverts edged with slate-gray; tail similar but darker; chin, throat, breast, and flanks clear orange-buff, slightly darker on breast; a line of white on each side of throat next to the black of jaw; abdomen and under tail-coverts white; thighs blackish brown. Iris dark brown; bill black; legs white with a slight blue wash; nails light brown. Length of a male from Calayan, 127; wing, 67; tail, 50; culmen from base, 12; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 19. In a slightly immature male from Calayan the greater coverts and secondaries are tipped with rusty buff.

Adult female.—Above, including sides of head and of neck, olive-gray, becoming olive-brown on lower back, and ferruginous on tail and its coverts; lores and eye-ring pale ocherous-buff; wings brown; wing-coverts edged with olive-gray; secondaries edged with olive-brown; chin, throat, breast, and flanks very pale orange-buff; abdomen and tail-coverts white. Length of a female from Benguet Province, Luzon, 115; wing, 57; tail, 41; culmen from base, 12; bill from nostril, 8; tarsus, 17.

Male in first plumage.—Above dusky brown, each feather with a rusty yellowish buff spot, crown and nape rather streaked; upper tail-coverts rusty; sides of head like crown, with no indication of the adult plumage; wings brown; coverts bluish, each feather with a large buff spot; chin, throat, and upper breast white with a wash of buff; breast more heavily washed with buff and each feather edged with black, producing a striped effect; abdomen and under tail-coverts white; wing-lining, axillars, and flanks yellowish buff.

Female in first plumage.—A young female is very much like the young male, but the upper parts are dull olive and washed rather than spotted with rusty buff.

The Luzon flycatcher breeds in Benguet Province where young were taken in July. Specimens from Calayan Island are indistinguishable.

Negros (Whitehead).

“Male adult.—Most nearly allied to M. luzoniensis Grant. The general color of the upper parts less gray, but dark slaty blue as in M. hyperythra. The chin is pure white, the rest of the under parts richer orange-buff; belly white.

“Female adult.—General color of the upper parts dull slate-gray, and not grayish olive-brown as in the female of M. luzoniensis; lores and feathers round the eye whiter; breast and under parts as in the male of M. luzoniensis.” (Whitehead.)

K’rí-kri, or sal-yb-seé-bon, Bagobo of Mount Apo.

Mindanao (Mearns).

“Adult male (two specimens).—General color of upper parts including lores, eye-ring, and sides of head dark slaty blue; white eyebrow-stripe reduced to small supraorbital patches; rump slightly washed with olivaceous; upper tail-coverts reddish burnt-umber; tail-feathers burnt-umber; wing-coverts like the back; quills grayish brown, edged with reddish brown externally and with fawn-color internally; under parts, except belly and sides, ochraceous, palest on the chin and under tail-coverts, belly whitish; sides bluish slate; lining and edge of wing ochraceous-buff. Length, 128; alar expanse, 208; wing, 65; tail, 51; bill from anterior border of nostril, 8.1; culmen, 10.5; tarsus, 18.5; middle toe with claw, 15.5. Iris brown; bill black; feet and claws light gray.

“Adult female (two specimens).—Similar to the adult male except that the slaty blue of the back and rump are more perceptibly washed with olivaceous, and the lores, eye-ring, and touches on the ear-coverts are ochraceous-buff. Length, 125; alar expanse, 197; wing, 62; tail, 47; bill from anterior border of nostril, 7.5; culmen, 10.5; tarsus, 18; middle toe with claw, 16.5. Iris brown; bill black; feet and claws grayish flesh-color.

“Immature female.—Similar to adult females, but paler below, with obscure spotting across the chest and on the sides.” (Mearns.)

This species was discovered by Mearns on Mount Apo at 1,800 meters altitude.

Basilan (Steere, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindanao (Platen, Bourns & Worcester, Celestino).

Adult male.—Above, including sides of head and of neck, dark slate-gray; upper tail-coverts nearly black; wings and tail dark brown; secondaries and wing-coverts edged with slate-gray; a partly concealed white patch or band on each side of nape; under parts white; breast, sides, flanks, and thighs washed with slate-gray. A male from Basilan measures: Wing, 69; tail, 43; culmen from base, 13.5; bill from nostril, 9.5; tarsus, 21.

Adult female.—Above, including sides of head and of neck, rich rusty brown, shading into bright chestnut on tail-coverts, tail, and edges of secondaries; wings and tail dark brown; exposed edges of primaries rusty brown; under parts white; breast, sides, flanks, and thighs washed with rusty brown. A female from Basilan measures: Wing, 66; tail, 43; culmen from base, 14; tarsus, 21.

The female of this species resembles very closely the female of Rhinomyias ruficauda, but differs in having a shorter tail and longer tarsus.

“We obtained a series of eight specimens from Basilan, and a single bird from Mindanao. Not one of the Basilan birds shows a trace of ‘yellowish white’ on the tail-feathers; otherwise, they agree with Blasius’s description. As the Mindanao bird collected by us also lacks all trace of any lighter color on the tail-feathers, we do not feel like separating the birds from the two islands.

“The Basilan flycatcher is found on the ground in the forest and is fairly common in Mindanao and Basilan. Eight males from the latter island average: Length, 127; wing, 68; tail, 43; culmen, 16; tarsus, 21; middle toe with claw, 19. Iris black; anterior surface of legs and upper surface of feet pale leaden; back surface of legs and bottoms of feet white; bill black.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Leyte (Whitehead); Samar (Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester).

“Adult male.—Top of head, sides of face, ear-coverts, and hind neck nearly black; back, rump, and upper wing-coverts uniform dark slaty blue; quills and tail fulvous-brown, slightly washed with slaty blue; chin and throat white; entire breast bluish gray, lightest on center of breast; abdomen white; flanks washed with bluish gray; under wing-coverts light buff, nearly white at base; sides dark slate-color as are under wing-coverts and axillars, the latter, however, mottled with white; a superciliary stripe of white beginning over eye and extending to nape, then inward, nearly reaching the median line; sexes alike. Iris very dark brown; bill black; legs, feet, and nails very light brown. Measurements from four males: Length, 119; wing, 61; tail, 38; culmen, 15; tarsus, 20.

“The specimens described are in breeding plumage. They were shot close to, or on, the ground in dense thickets in the deep woods.

“This species is closely allied to M. mindanensis Blasius, from which it differs in its darker head, lighter tail, and much larger superciliary stripe. None of our specimens shows a white bar on the rump, but we find the Mindanao-Basilan birds variable in this respect.” (Bourns and Worcester.)

“Female.—Upper parts rusty brown, darkest on the crown, and shading into chestnut on the upper tail-coverts, the superciliary stripes of the male only represented by a white feather or two on the sides of the occiput; wings and tail dark brown, the exposed parts of the quills mostly chestnut; sides of the head and neck light rusty brown, palest round the eye, and forming a rather marked ring; under parts much like those of the male, but the distinct gray pectoral zone is replaced by one tinged with rusty; thighs brownish buff, under tail-coverts buff. The type measures: Length, 109; culmen, 14; wing, 61; tail, 37; tarsus, 19. A second female measures: Length, 109; culmen, 15; wing, 62; tail, 37; tarsus, 19.

“In general appearance the female of Muscicapula samarensis bears a close resemblance to Rhynomyias ruficauda, the under parts being strangely alike in both. The latter species is, however, easily recognized by its much longer tail. ‘Iris and bill black; tarsus bluish white; feet white.—J. W.’

“The Samar white-browed flycatcher is described by Messrs. Bourns and Worcester as having the sexes alike, but a mistake has evidently been made in ascertaining the sex of the slate-colored bird described as a female. Mr. Whitehead obtained two pairs of this species, and the females differ entirely from the males in the color of the upper parts, which are rusty brown, while the strongly marked white eyebrow-stripes are practically absent. There can not be the slightest doubt that the rufous-brown females are fully adult, for one was shot from a nest with four eggs, and that they belong to the same species as the slate-gray males is almost equally certain.

“I observe that the type of M. mindanensis Blasius, Jour. für Orn. (1890), 147, a gray bird, is said to have been a female, but here probably a mistake has been made. There are two adult gray examples of this flycatcher from the Steere collection, both of which are said to be males, and they agree perfectly with the description of the type.” (Grant.)

Whitehead secured two fresh eggs of the Samar white-browed flycatcher near Paranas, Samar, on June 17, 1896. The eggs and nest are described as follows:

“Shape ovate. Ground-color beautiful sea-green, speckled all over, especially toward the larger end, with pale brown, the over-markings being slightly darker and smaller. Measurements 19 mm. by 13 mm.

“The nest, a remarkably frail structure, was made of roots and lined with broad leaves. It was well concealed, being placed close to the ground in a heap of forest-drift near some rocks. The female bird was snared.” (Grant and Whitehead.)