“Adult male.—Much smaller than S. steerii. Head, back, and scapulars purple somewhat mottled with brown; white nuchal collar very narrow and ill-defined; purple of back gradually changing into brown on rump; tips of scapulars black; upper tail-coverts and tail bright chestnut; upper wing-coverts black; tertiaries barred across both webs with pure white; three secondaries with lilac spot on outer webs; tips of secondaries and tertiaries black; primaries blackish brown; chin, throat, sides of face, ear-coverts, and lores pure black; breast, abdomen, and flanks lilac, deeper on upper breast, lighter on abdomen; thighs black, the feathers tipped with brown; under tail-coverts light buff; axillars white; under wing-coverts black; bend of wing white.

“Female like male except that the lilac of under surface is replaced by white. Bill, legs, feet, nails, and eyes exactly as in S. steerii and the young show the same plumage changes as in that species.

“Average measurements from five males: Length, 153; wing, 78; tail, 62; culmen, 22; tarsus, 20.” (Bourns and Worcester.)

“Habits exactly like those of the preceding species; abundant in Samar but irregularly distributed.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Order PASSERIFORMES.

PASSERINE BIRDS.

Bill hard and horny, never extensively membranous, softly tumid, nor cered; nostrils without open communication; greater wing-coverts not more than one-half the length of the secondaries; primaries usually ten, more rarely nine; rectrices twelve, rarely ten; feet adapted for perching; hind toe and claw well developed and inserted on the level of the anterior toes; hind claw equal to, or longer than, the claw of middle toe; anterior toes three in number, never versatile, always free except when webbed or fused at base.

The order Passeriformes includes nearly as many species, among Philippine birds, as all the other orders combined. Most of the species of this order are less than 200, and very few of them are more than 300, millimeters in length. The small birds belonging to other orders are extremely few. Most ornithologists consider the Passeriformes to be the order of highest rank among birds, chiefly because of the highly developed vocal powers of many of the species. In the arrangement of the families of this order, the Turdidæ, Fringillidæ, and Corvidæ have variously been assigned to the place indicating the highest development.

Suborders.[46]