BASILAN FLYCATCHER.
- Dendrobiastes basilanica Sharpe, Trans. Linn. Soc. 2d ser. Zool. (1877), 1, 332.
- Muscicapula basilanica Sharpe, Hand-List (1901), 3, 224; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 72.
- Muscicapula mindanensis Blasius, Jour. für Ornith. (1890), 147.
Basilan (Steere, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindanao (Platen, Bourns & Worcester, Celestino).
Adult male.—Above, including sides of head and of neck, dark slate-gray; upper tail-coverts nearly black; wings and tail dark brown; secondaries and wing-coverts edged with slate-gray; a partly concealed white patch or band on each side of nape; under parts white; breast, sides, flanks, and thighs washed with slate-gray. A male from Basilan measures: Wing, 69; tail, 43; culmen from base, 13.5; bill from nostril, 9.5; tarsus, 21.
Adult female.—Above, including sides of head and of neck, rich rusty brown, shading into bright chestnut on tail-coverts, tail, and edges of secondaries; wings and tail dark brown; exposed edges of primaries rusty brown; under parts white; breast, sides, flanks, and thighs washed with rusty brown. A female from Basilan measures: Wing, 66; tail, 43; culmen from base, 14; tarsus, 21.
The female of this species resembles very closely the female of Rhinomyias ruficauda, but differs in having a shorter tail and longer tarsus.
“We obtained a series of eight specimens from Basilan, and a single bird from Mindanao. Not one of the Basilan birds shows a trace of ‘yellowish white’ on the tail-feathers; otherwise, they agree with Blasius’s description. As the Mindanao bird collected by us also lacks all trace of any lighter color on the tail-feathers, we do not feel like separating the birds from the two islands.
“The Basilan flycatcher is found on the ground in the forest and is fairly common in Mindanao and Basilan. Eight males from the latter island average: Length, 127; wing, 68; tail, 43; culmen, 16; tarsus, 21; middle toe with claw, 19. Iris black; anterior surface of legs and upper surface of feet pale leaden; back surface of legs and bottoms of feet white; bill black.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)