Mindanao (Mearns).
“Characters.—Largest of the Philippine species of Merula. Breast and under side of neck light drab-gray, a darker shade of this color extending to the throat and chin and forming an indistinct collar around the hind neck; middle of abdomen and crissum nearly white; mantle, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts light sooty-brown; wings and tail dark sooty-brown.
“Adult male.—Upper side of head, mantle, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts light sooty-brown; flanks slightly paler and browner; wings and tail dark sooty-brown, more fuliginous on under surface; chest and under side of neck light drab-gray, a darker shade of this color encircling the neck and extending to the chin and throat, where the feathers have dark shaft-streaks; sides of head pale sooty-brown; feathers of the median area from chest to crissum, with broad, white edges and a dark central area inclosing a sagittate white spot, giving a spotted appearance to the middle of the under surface of the body; crissum with this light area expanded and practically all white; under tail-coverts sooty-brown, longitudinally striped with white or pale buff.
“Adult female.—Similar to the male but slightly smaller and dingier in color with a slight rufescence on sides of lower breast and flanks.
“Immature male.—Sides of lower chest and flanks more strongly washed with raw-umber than in adult females; chest and throat darker.
“First plumage (male).—Upper surface dusky, washed with raw-umber, especially on the head, neck, upper back, and wing-coverts; scapulars with pale rusty shaft-streaks, and some of the lesser wing-coverts edged with the same; under surface sepia-brown strongly mixed with reddish brown and spotted with brownish black, the rufescence covering the middle of the throat and much of the chest, the blackish cordate spots being confined to the tips and the rusty bands crossing the middle of the feathers; whitish median stripe distinct but with pale rufescent edging to the feathers except on lower abdomen; under tail-coverts sepia-brown with rusty edging and broad, white, median stripes.
“In other specimens taken at the same season, the molt was nearly finished, leaving a few feathers with rusty bands and black spots and with a stronger rusty washing to the flanks than in adults.” (Mearns.)
Genus TURDUS Linnæus, 1758.
Rictal bristles weak, less than bill from nostril; wing strong, flat, and pointed; third, fourth, and fifth primaries emarginate on outer webs; first primary very short, less than primary-coverts; tail nearly square; tarsus slightly less than one-third of tail and about equal to middle toe with claw. Upper parts olive-brown, russet-brown, or gray; chin and throat light with dusky streaks; chest, sides, and flanks dull chestnut or gray; crissum and middle of breast and abdomen white. This color pattern is characteristic of the three migratory species which have been found in the Philippine Islands.