Male and female.—Top of head and crest dark brown, the feathers edged with slate-gray; back, rump, and tail-coverts warm brown or light seal-brown, the feathers edged with olive-gray; wings and tail dark brown; rectrices edged with olive-gray; chin, fore part of throat, and cheeks hoary gray; a band of dark reddish brown across ear-coverts and lower throat, many of the feathers of throat with white spots on the tips of the shafts; rest of under parts ashy brown, becoming fulvous on flanks and thighs; feathers on median part of breast tipped with white; middle of abdomen white. Iris reddish brown; bill, legs, and nails dark brown. Five males from Fuga measure: Wing, 123 to 126; tail, 119 to 124; culmen from base, 27 to 29; bill from nostril, 16.5 to 18; tarsus, 19 to 23.
“Adult male and female.—Most nearly allied to H. squamiceps and H. pryeri, having the chestnut ear-coverts united by a band of the same color extending across the throat, but the top of the head, which is almost devoid of a crest, and the neck are brown, like the back, instead of dark slate-gray; and the white tips to the feathers of the breast and belly are almost entirely absent, or only faintly indicated along the middle line of the under parts. Length, 267; culmen, 29; wing, 123; tail, 117; tarsus, 21.5.” (Grant.)
476. HYPSIPETES BATANENSIS Mearns.
BATAN RED-EARED BULBUL.
- Hypsipetes batanensis Mearns, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 357; McGregor, Ibid, 342.
Pi-uc′, Batan.
Babuyan Claro (McGregor); Batan (Mearns, McGregor).
Diagnosis.—“Exactly like topotypes of Hypsipetes fugensis Grant, but larger, and with the forehead rufescent instead of cinereous. Measurements.—Type (skin of adult male).—Length, 262; wing, 130; tail, 127; culmen (chord), 28; bill from anterior margin of nostril, 20; tarsus, 26; middle toe with claw, about 27. Average of three adult males including the type: Length, 264; wing, 128; tail, 127; culmen (chord), 28; bill from anterior margin of nostril, 26; middle toe with claw, about 27. Adult female: Length, 245; wing, 116; tail, 112; culmen (chord), 25; bill from anterior margin of nostril, 17.5; tarsus, 25; middle toe with claw, about 25.5.” (Mearns.)
Five males measure as follows: Wing, 124 to 129; tail, 116 to 123; culmen from base, 30 to 32; bill from nostril, 18 to 19; tarsus, 22 to 25.
Other than the size there appears to me to be no appreciable difference between H. fugensis and H. batanensis. The Batan red-eared bulbul is very abundant in Batan Island where it was found breeding in May and June. The eggs are salmon-pink, spotted with shades of umber-brown. Six eggs measure from 30.2 to 32.7 mm. in length and from 20 to 22 mm. in width.