A Manual of Philippine Birds

by Richard C. McGregor

Suborder PHASIANI.

Family PHASIANIDÆ.

Bill strong and horny, nostrils oblong, never hidden by feathers; culmen curved but not hooked; tarsi naked and in the male armed with spurs (Excalfactoria without spurs); toes four, naked, and never pectinated along sides; sexes differently colored.

Genera.

• a¹ Much smaller; length less than 150 mm.; head without crest or comb; spurs absent Excalfactoria (p. [12])
• a² Much larger; length more than 350 mm.; head crested or with a comb; spurs present in the male.
  • b¹. No crest but with a fleshy comb; tail-coverts without ocelli; male with one pair of spurs Gallus (p. [13])
  • b². No comb but with an elongated crest; longer tail-coverts ocellated; male with two or three pairs of spurs Polyplectron (p. [16])

Genus EXCALFACTORIA Bonaparte, 1856.

This genus resembles Turnix but is distinguished from it by having a hind toe; the male is much handsomer than the female; the tail has but eight short rectrices which are hidden by the long upper coverts.

2. EXCALFACTORIA LINEATA (Scopoli).

ISLAND PAINTED QUAIL.

• Oriolus lineatus Scopoli, Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr. (1786), 2, 87.
• Excalfactoria lineata Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1893), 22, 253; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 32; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1901), 1, 48, pl. 4, fig. 2; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 7.