Genus DRYOCOCCYX Sharpe, 1877.
Nostril round in a long vertical groove at base of bill; on side of head from bill to above posterior border of ear, a wide unfeathered space covered with minute fleshy protuberances; wing short; tail long, its feathers wide and greatly graduated.
351. DRYOCOCCYX HARRINGTONI Sharpe.
HARRINGTON’S CUCKOO.
- Dryococcyx harringtoni Sharpe, Trans. Linn. Soc. Zool. (1877), 1, 321, fig. 1; Hand-List (1900), 2, 172; Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 19, 400; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 64.
Balabac (Steere, Everett); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Palawan (Everett, Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, White).
Adult (sexes similar).—Forehead, jaw, and narrow lines above and below eye, gray; crown and occiput olive-brown, faintly glossed with green; back, rump, and basal two-thirds of tail glossy metallic green; distal half of tail dark chestnut; chin, throat, breast, sides of neck, and incomplete collar bright rufous, shaded into chestnut on abdomen, thighs, and crissum. Length of a male from Palawan, 450; wing, 170; tail, 270; culmen from base, 39; tarsus, 38. Wing of a female, 170; tail, 278; culmen from base, 39; tarsus, 39.
“In limiting the range of this species to Palawan, Shelley seems to have overlooked the fact that it was originally discovered in Balabac by Steere. We found it to be quite abundant in the Calamianes Islands, and secured numerous specimens there. Usually found in deep forest, occasionally in second growth. Iris of female yellow; iris of male with outer nearly white ring, and inner ring of deep red or brown; bill pea-green; legs and feet leaden gray; nails black; bare skin round eye maroon.
“Five males from Palawan measure, 461 in length; wing, 164; tail, 262; culmen, 40; tarsus, 46; middle toe with claw, 35. Three females, length, 472; wing, 164; tail, 268; culmen, 38; tarsus, 39; middle toe with claw, 36. Calamianes birds are indistinguishable.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)