“Wing and tail about equal; wing-feathers as in Edolisoma, third, fourth, and fifth quills longest; tail forked, fourth quill longest, third subequal, outer quill shortest; webs of outer pair of rectrices sharply pointed; in form and pattern the tail resembles that of Campochæra, but has the webs more pointed; bill with culmen decidedly shorter than tarsus, narrower at gape than length of outer toe without claw; stiffened shafts of rump-feathers very pronounced.” (Mearns.)
452. MALINDANGIA MCGREGORI Mearns.
MCGREGOR’S CUCKOO SHRIKE.
- Malindangia mcgregori Mearns, Phil. Journ. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 355.
Mindanao (Mearns).
“Adult male and female.—Upper parts including crown, mantle, rump, upper tail-coverts, and middle pair of tail-feathers uniform light gray; forehead, chin, throat, breast, and sides of head to above eyes black; innermost secondaries, scapulars, and least wing-coverts gray like the back; middle and greater wing-coverts and a broad external band on innermost pair of secondaries white; remaining wing-quills black externally, broadly white on inner webs at base; alula all black; axillars and under wing-coverts white; three outer rectrices tipped with grayish white on both webs, the innermost of the three narrowly, the next broadly, and the outermost for more than one-third of its length; chest, flanks, and thighs gray like the back, this color fading to whitish on the abdomen and becoming pure white on the under tail-coverts. Iris red or reddish brown; bill all black; feet plumbeous-black, with under side of toes yellow. Three adult males measure: Length, 236 to 240; alar expanse, 335 to 342; wing, 110 to 113; tail, 108 to 117; culmen, 19 to 19.5; tarsus, 23 to 24; middle toe with claw, 20 to 21. Female: Length, 230; alar expanse, 330; wing, 108; tail, 111; culmen, 19; tarsus, 23; middle toe with claw, 21.
“Remarks.—The black of the under side of the head extends around the neck and forms an incomplete black neck-collar which in the oldest males is but narrowly interrupted in the median line above. The sexes are colored alike, but one female (No. 14,177), probably immature, has the black areas of the head and neck replaced by a dark gray color. The plumage otherwise differs from that of the adult only in having scarcely discernible fulvous edgings and wavy cross-bands to the feathers of the abdomen. This species was abundant on Mount Malindang. Fifteen specimens were collected, ten of them males and five females.” (Mearns.)
Genus EDOLISOMA Jacquinot and Pucheran, 1853.
This genus is similar to Artamides, but its members are smaller and the bill is decidedly more slender. The plumage is unbarred in the adult and the male has the chin, throat, forehead, and face masked in black, or else the whole plumage is black. The young have the under parts barred. The following key to species is modified from the one given by Grant, Ibis (1896), 538.