Palawan (Steere, Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, White). Western China, Malay Peninsula, southern Tenasserim, Sumatra, Borneo.
Adult male.—Entire head, chin, throat, and upper back glossy blue-black; lower back, rump, tail-coverts, and under parts bright pompeian-orange or fiery red; base of each feather white with a wash of pale yellow between the white base and red tip; thighs black; wings black; primaries, except four outermost, and secondaries crossed by a diagonal band of bright orange-red; on inner webs the band is yellow; inner greater coverts tipped with orange-red and forming part of the wing-patch; four middle rectrices glossy black, the other rectrices black with apical one-third to one-half red. Iris dark brown; bill and feet black. Length, 162; wing, 77; tail, 76; culmen from base, 13; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 16.
“Adult female.—General color above dull ashy gray, the lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts fine vermilion; four median tail-feathers black, the remainder vermilion with black bases, gradually increasing in extent toward the inner ones; quills black, with a broad bar of orange near the base of the quills, extending along the outer web of some of the inner primaries; ear-coverts gray; lores, feathers round the eye, cheeks, and under surface of body bright yellow, inclining to orange on the flanks and under tail-coverts; thighs blackish; under wing-coverts and edge of wing yellow. Length, 140; culmen, 13; wing, 70; tail, 70; tarsus, 15.” (Sharpe.)
“Two males from Palawan average, 154 in length; wing, 72; tail, 74; culmen, 16; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 14. Iris dark; bill, legs, feet, and nails black. Breeding in Palawan in December. Usually keeps to the tops of high trees in the forest but occasionally comes out into the mangrove swamps.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
464. PERICROCOTUS CINEREUS Lafresneye.
ASHY MINIVET.
- Pericrocotus cinereus Lafresneye, Rev. Zool. (1845), 8, 94; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1879), 4, 83; Hand-List (1901), 3, 302; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 103 (migrant); Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1903), 3, 298, pl. 9, fig. 19; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 77.
Basilan (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (Leclancher, Heriot, Whitehead, McGregor); Mindoro (Everett, McGregor); Palawan (Lempriere, Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester, White). China and eastern Siberia; in winter to Pegu, Borneo, and Malay Peninsula.
Male.—Nasal plumes, lores, crown, and nape black; forehead white; cheeks and ear-coverts white, the latter tipped with black; rest of upper parts ashy gray; under parts entirely white; thighs gray; wings blackish brown; secondaries with a narrow white bar across the middle of their length and some of their edges gray; primaries with white patches near middle of inner webs, and some with a white spot on outer web; rectrices black, all but the middle pair with long white tips. Length, about 200; wing, 98; tail, 95; culmen from base, 14; bill from nostril, 9.5; tarsus, 16.
Female.—Similar to the male but crown, nape, and post-ocular area gray like the back; sides of breast mottled or obsoletely barred with gray. Wing, 97; tail, 98; culmen from base, 14; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 15.