A Manual of Philippine Birds

by Richard C. McGregor

Genus IRENA Horsfield, 1821.

Nuchal hairs well developed, their exposed portions equal to about two-thirds the length of bill from nostril; nostrils hidden by short close-set feathers; a notch near the tip of each mandible; primaries longer than secondaries by much more than tarsus; tarsus less than bill from nostril; tail slightly rounded. Colors blue and black. In the thin and tender skin and hidden nostrils this genus shows some affinity to the Campophagidæ; the well-developed nuchal hairs and short tarsus indicate a close relationship to the bulbuls.

Species.

• a¹. Mantle and back blue.
  • b¹. Chin and throat black.
    • c¹. Crown and nape cobalt; mantle and back navy-blue. cyanogastra (p. [500])
    • c². Crown, mantle, and back bright turquoise-blue (male). tweeddali (p. [502])
  • b². Chin and throat and nearly the entire plumage dull verditer-blue (female). tweeddali (p. [502])
• a². Mantle and back velvety black. melanochlamys (p. [501]); ellæ (p. [500])

471. IRENA CYANOGASTRA Vigors.

LUZON FAIRY BLUEBIRD.

• Irena cyanogastra Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1831), 97; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1877), 3, 266; Grant, Ibis (1896), 116; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 216 (habits).
• Irena cyanogaster Sharpe, Hand-List (1901), 3, 308; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 79.

Luzon (Meyer, Möllendorff, Steere Exp., Whitehead, McGregor, Celestino).

Male.—Forehead, lores, a wide band over eye, entire sides of head and neck, chin, throat, and fore breast velvety black; rest of under parts deep blue; tail-coverts tipped with cobalt and the black bases of feathers showing through the blue to some extent; crown and nape bright cobalt; mantle, back, and rump deep blue, the black bases showing through to some extent as on the under parts; upper tail-coverts tipped with cobalt; wings black; lesser coverts tipped with dark blue; median and greater coverts with wide tips of cobalt, forming two bands; alula-feathers and primary-coverts narrowly edged with dark blue; inner secondaries broadly edged with cobalt; rectrices black below; above, outermost pair all black, the middle pair all blue, the others blue on outer webs. Bill, legs, and nails black. Length, about 260; wing, 135; tail, 112; culmen from base, 30; bill from nostril, 21; tarsus, 21.

Female.—Differs from the male in having the black on head and throat duller and extending for a less distance on the breast; blue of under parts slightly lighter. Wing, 135; tail, 113; culmen from base, 27; bill from nostril, 19; tarsus, 18.