Genus MICROTARSUS Eyton, 1839.
The Philippine species of the genus Microtarsus is characterized by its long tail-coverts, which are two-thirds the length of tail and nearly as long as the outermost pair of rectrices; rectrices graduated, and tipped with bright yellow; the colors are black and yellow.
489. MICROTARSUS MELANOCEPHALOS (Gmelin).
BLACK-HEADED BULBUL.
- Lanius melanocephalos Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 1, 309.
- Micropus melanocephalus Sharpe, Cat. Birds, Brit. Mus. (1881), 6, 65; Oates, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1889), 1, 294, fig. 91 (tail).
- Microtarsus melanocephalus Sharpe, Hand-List (1901), 3, 315; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 80.
Palawan (Everett, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, Celestino, White). Malay Peninsula, Burmese provinces, eastern Bengal, Sumatra, Java, Borneo.
Adult.—Entire head, chin, and throat black, faintly glossed with green and purple; mantle and back olive-yellow, gradually becoming citron-yellow on rump and tail-coverts; feathers of lower back long and thick-set, overhanging the rump, each feather with a subterminal black band; breast and sides olive-yellow, becoming lighter posteriorly and bright egg-yellow on middle of abdomen and on under tail-coverts; wings mostly black, but the secondaries and their coverts broadly edged with citron-yellow; inner webs of quills edged with white; axillars and wing-lining pale yellow; basal part of tail olive-green, followed by a wide black subterminal bar; tips of rectrices bright egg-yellow. The sexes are similar in colors, but the female is a little the darker. Length, about 165. A male measures: Wing, 77; tail, 67; culmen from base, 16.5; bill from nostril, 10; tarsus, 15. A female, wing, 75; tail, 67; culmen from base, 15; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 12.
“The black-headed bulbul is fairly common in Palawan. It is usually seen about trees and bushes in the open, but is occasionally met with in the forest, above the tree tops. Seven males average: Length, 170; wing, 76; tail, 68; culmen, 16.5; tarsus, 14; middle toe with claw, 16. Three females, length, 167; wing, 75; tail, 69; culmen, 15; tarsus, 13; middle toe with claw, 16. Iris bright blue; bill, legs, feet, and nails black.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Genus TRICHOPHORUS Temminck, 1821.
This genus resembles Irena in having long nuchal hairs and a rather short, slightly compressed, bill, but in Trichophorus the nostrils are exposed and the wings are relatively short and rounded, the primaries exceeding the secondaries by about the length of tarsus; head slightly crested; the colors are olive-yellow, light yellow, brown, and gray.