Adult.—Top of head from bill to neck, lores, a broad line under eye, and upper part of ear-coverts chestnut; back, rump, and tail-coverts slate-gray; the rump and tail-coverts green in some specimens; wing-feathers and rectrices edged with bright olive-green; tail with a dusky band near its tip; under parts white; throat and breast streaked with slate-gray; sides and flanks more or less washed with ashy gray; thighs chestnut, flanks and crissum washed with green in some specimens. Length, about 150. A male from Bantayan measures: Wing, 57; tail, 55; culmen from base, 20; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 23. A female, wing, 50; tail, 46; culmen from base, 18; tarsus, 22.
“Steere has attempted to separate the Panay tailorbird from that of Guimaras and Negros, but after a most careful examination of a large series of specimens from Panay, Negros, and Masbate we are compelled to say that there is not the slightest difference between the birds from the three islands. Their size is the same. The wash of olive-green on the back, on which Doctor Steere relied to separate the Panay birds, is a variable character present in some birds, absent in others shot at the same season. It occurs in birds from Negros and Masbate as well as those from Panay. The presumptive evidence against finding one species of Orthotomus in Panay and another in Guimaras is of course very strong. Guimaras is to all intents and purposes a part of Panay and there are no other known differences between the birds of the two islands. Masbate is a new locality for the species.” (Bourns and Worcester.)
“The chestnut-headed tailorbird frequents low bushes in open country, also the mangrove swamps; less common in the woods. A noisy bird, its note being very similar to that of O. frontalis.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
557. ORTHOTOMUS DERBIANUS Moore.
DERBY’S TAILORBIRD.
- Orthotomus derbianus Moore, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1854), 309, pl. 76; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1883), 7, 224; Hand-List (1903), 4, 192; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 220 (habits); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 88.
Catanduanes (Whitehead); Luzon (Cuming, Everett, Möllendorff, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor).
Adult.—Top of head from bill to nape, lores, narrow line under eye, and upper parts of ear-coverts chestnut; back, rump, and tail-coverts cinereous; wing-feathers brown, edged with olive-green; tail dull chestnut, edged with gray at base; under parts light gray, streaked with white on throat and breast; thighs chestnut; iris and legs tan-brown; nails flesh-color. Length, about 140. Male, wing, 50; tail, 50; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 20.
“Habits similar to those of O. frontalis. A male measures as follows: Wing, 47; tail, 47; culmen, 18; tarsus, 19.5; middle toe with claw, 18. A female, wing, 46; tail, 41; culmen, 19; tarsus, 19.5; middle toe with claw, 17.5.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)