This species is fairly common in the lowland forests of Luzon.
370. LICHTENSTEINIPICUS FULIGINOSUS (Tweeddale).
SOOTY WOODPECKER.
- Mulleripicus fuliginosus Tweeddale, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1877), 20, 534; Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877), 821, pl. 83.
- Microstictus fuliginosus Hargitt, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 18, 492; Grant, Ibis (1897), 246; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 230; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 66.
Leyte (Whitehead); Mindanao (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Samar (Steere Exp., Whitehead).
“Adult male (type of species).—Plumage slaty gray, the whole of the body, wings, and tail uniform, the head (except the loral and orbital region) and neck spotted with white, the spots on the top of the head and on the nape having a striped character, those on the chin and throat larger and more or less triangular in shape; a large patch of brilliant scarlet covers the entire malar region and extends upwards nearly to the eye; shafts of the quills and of the tail-feathers dusky black. ‘Iris naples-yellow.’ (Everett.) Length, 305; culmen, 41; wing, 160; tail, 110; tarsus, 30.” (Hargitt.)
“Adult female.—Closely resembles the female of M. funebris, but may be distinguished by the general color of the plumage being grayer; the ground-color of the chin and throat gray like the cheeks, and the white dots distinctly larger. In the female of M. funebris the chin and throat are brownish gray, and contrast with the blackish gray cheeks. Length, 269; culmen, 37; wing, 147; tail, 104; tarsus, 28.” (Grant.)
Genus MULLERIPICUS Bonaparte, 1854.
Of large size; bill very powerful; proximal half of culmen curved, distal half straight; nostrils large, oval, and covered by feathers; nasal ridge prominent; feathers of head short; no crest.