BURBIDGE’S PARROT.
- Tanygnathus burbidgei Sharpe, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1879), 313; Hand-List (1900), 21, 30; Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 20, 432, pl. 11; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 49.
Bongao (Everett); Sulu (Burbidge, Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Everett, Bourns & Worcester).
“Adult.—Dark green; head and neck bright yellowish green; lower back and uropygium deep turquoise-blue; upper wing-coverts with very narrow yellowish green edges; tail above dark green; underneath dull golden olive. Iris red; bill vermilion; tarsus dull olive-brown.” (Guillemard.) Length, 406; wing, 223; tail, 157; bill, 38; tarsus, 19.
“Young.—A little smaller than the adult, the head somewhat darker and the bill whitish.
“This is a very distinct species, resembling T. everetti, but much larger and with the head lighter than the body, and no blue edgings to the feathers of the interscapular region.” (Salvadori.)
“Common in Sulu but very shy, and seemed to be shot-proof. Unfortunately, too, it was molting at the time of our stay, and but two good specimens were secured. Readily distinguished from T. lucionensis by its cry alone. Found in deep forest, and in fruit trees in the open.
“Two males average, 375 in length; wing, 213; tail, 150; culmen, 33. Less common in Tawi Tawi, and observed only in the forest.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Genus BOLBOPSITTACUS Salvadori, 1891.
Bill short and very broad; edge of upper mandible strongly sinuate but not toothed; the short, nearly equal, rectrices extend but little beyond the tail-coverts; colors green, yellow, and blue; length, 140 to 165 mm.