There can be little doubt that the specimen described above is really the female of B. menagei. Birds of this genus are so complex in colors and so scarce in collections that it is very difficult to arrive at a satisfactory understanding of their plumages and relationships.
263. BATRACHOSTOMUS JAVENSIS (Horsfield).
JAVAN FROGMOUTH.
- Podargus javensis Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1821), 13, pt. 1, 141.
- Batrachostomus javensis Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 16, 640; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 43; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 51.
Palawan (Whitehead, Everett, Steere Exp.). Borneo, Java, and Sumatra.
“Rufous phase.—Deep reddish brown, with numerous fine black vermiculations; an indistinct white band across the neck, and large white spots on the scapulars; under surface deep reddish brown below, with a broad pure white band across the upper breast, the feathers of this part being white with dark terminal cross-bars, one distinct and one generally obsolete, the bases being dark. Many feathers of the breast have very large central spots of white, margined with a black line; abdomen mingled with blackish, brownish, and a good deal of isabelline.
“Brown phase.—Above dark brown, with many pale bars and vermiculations; a broad distinct band of whitish across the hind neck and much white on the scapulars; a good deal of creamy white on the lower surface.
“Blackish phase.—Several specimens from Borneo are black or blackish in color, the vermiculations white or whitish.
“The reddish specimens are probably females, the brown and the black ones being probably males in different phases or perhaps representing different ages.
“The size of all is about the same, the total length being about 229 to 254; wing, 135; tail, 132; tarsus, 14; culmen, 20; width of gape, 33 to 35.