Genus ZANTHOPYGIA Blyth, 1847.
Bill at nostril slightly broader than deep, slightly compressed toward the tip; rictal bristles moderate, extending half the length of bill; tarsus twice the length of bill from nostril; wings moderate in length, when folded extending nearly to tip of tail; first primary much less than one-half the length of second, the latter less than third and fourth which are subequal and longest; tail square and equal to two-thirds of wing. Sexes very different in colors, the colors of the male are yellow, black, and white.
411. ZANTHOPYGIA NARCISSINA (Temminck).
NARCISSUS FLYCATCHER.
- Muscicapa narcissina Temminck, Pl. Col. (1835), 3, pl. 577, fig. 1.
- Xanthopygia narcissina Sharpe, Trans. Linn. Soc. 2d. ser. Zool. (1877), 1, 327; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1879), 4, 249; Hand-List (1901), 3, 238; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 73.
Calayan (McGregor); Mindanao (Steere). Japan, China; in winter to northern Borneo.
Male (Japan).—Above, including wings and tail, black; a line from bill over eye to nape bright yellow; back and rump darker yellow; upper tail-coverts black; some of the inner greater wing-coverts white, forming a large patch; chin, throat, and breast bright orange-yellow, becoming paler on lower breast and flanks, and gradually disappearing, leaving the crissum pure white; sides of breast, edge of wing, and thighs black; under wing-coverts and axillars white with slate-gray bases. Wing, 78; tail, 53; culmen from base, 13; bill from nostril, 7; tarsus, 15.
Female (Calayan Island).—Above olive-brown, more greenish on rump; upper tail-coverts and tail dull rufescent brown; wings brown, the primaries narrowly, the secondaries and coverts more widely, edged with dirty white or pale rufous-brown; lores, a line over eye, and eye-circle pale yellowish white; lower parts whitish, washed, more or less, with pale yellow which is brighter on throat; breast more or less mottled with dusky brown. Upper mandible black; lower mandible horn-blue; iris dark reddish brown; legs pale blue; nails gray. Length, 127; wing, 73; tail, 47; culmen from base, 13; bill from nostril, 7; tarsus, 16.
“The single male specimen obtained by Steere at Dumalon, Mindanao, in 1874, is still preserved in the Museum of the University of Michigan. No others seem to have been obtained since.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
In Calayan on October 30, 1903, McGregor and Celestino took a female flycatcher which is undoubtedly a specimen of this migratory species, but it was not recorded in the report on the Calayan collection. In the field the female might be mistaken for the willow warbler or for one of the little plain-colored flycatchers, but the male would scarcely be overlooked if it were at all abundant. The species must, therefore, be considered a rare winter visitant to the Philippines.