Ti-uay-uay, Batan.

Batan (McGregor).

Adult male (type).—Black, with a slight purplish blue gloss; middle of abdomen white; under tail-coverts black with white bases and with traces of clay-brown along the edges; wings and tail black with some purplish blue gloss on exposed margins. Iris brown; bill, legs, and wide fleshy eye-wattle bright blue; nails paler blue; inside of mouth pale green. Length in flesh, 383; wing, 91; central rectrices, 282; second pair of rectrices, 131; outermost and shortest pair of rectrices, 65; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 13; tarsus, 15; middle toe with claw, 15; longest crest-feathers, 15.

Nearly adult male.—Similar to the adult, but some feathers of lower back and a few of the inner remiges edged with chestnut; middle of lower breast, axillars, and wing-lining mottled with white; abdomen white; under tail-coverts terra-cotta yellow with small dusky patches. Length, 376; wing, 90; tail-feathers: longest, 267; second, 127; shortest, 80; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 13; tarsus, 16.5; middle toe with claw, 16.5; longest crest-feathers, 16.

Male, first year.—Head, neck, throat, and breast glossy black; mantle, back, and rump bright chestnut; upper tail-coverts chestnut and glossy black (mixed plumage); lower breast gray; abdomen white; flanks dull chestnut; under tail-coverts white washed with terra cotta; alula, primaries and primary-coverts blackish brown; primaries and secondary-coverts edged with chestnut; secondaries edged with rusty brown; rectrices dark brown, slightly chestnut, the outer pair minutely tipped with white. Length, 190; wing, 85; tail, 85; outermost rectrices, 71; culmen from base, 18.5; bill from nostril, 13.

Adult female.—Differs from the adult male, first year, in having mantle, back, tail-coverts, and secondary-coverts reddish brown instead of chestnut. Length, 190; wing, 85; tail, 81; outermost rectrices, 74; culmen from base, 20; bill from nostril, 13. Another female is duller, having the mantle, back, and rump decidedly grayer. Length, 189; wing, 85; tail, 88; culmen from base, 17; bill from nostril, 12.

First plumage.—Above dull brown; top of head, back, and tail dull reddish brown; post ocular band dull ocherous; chin, throat, and breast gray, the latter crossed by an ocherous band; lower breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts white, slightly washed with ocherous; wings blackish, primaries edged with dull reddish brown; primary-coverts blackish; secondaries and their coverts edged with dull rusty ocherous taking the form of terminal spots on median coverts. Bill dull brown; legs pale blue; nails white.

Apparently this species breeds in its second year but does not reach its most perfect plumage until its fourth year.

A nest taken in Batan Island, May 29, 1907, was saddled securely in the fork of a small branch. The single egg was heavily incubated and measured 15.4 by 20.3. The egg was dull white, sparsely spotted with dark umber-brown.