Genus ARTAMUS Vieillot, 1816.
Mandible with a slight notch near tip; rictal bristles much less than bill from nostril; first primary very small and slender, not longer than culmen from base; second primary longest, the wings when folded reaching beyond the middle of tail; tail short and square, the rectrices broad and square; plumage compact. Colors white and gray.
576. ARTAMUS LEUCORYNCHUS (Linnæus).
WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW SHRIKE.
- Lanius leucorynchus Linnæus, Mantissa (1771), 524.
- Artamus leucogaster Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 13, 3; Hand-List (1903), 4, 260; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 240 (habits); Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1905), 4, 257.
- Artamus leucorynchus McGregor, Bur. Govt. Laboratories, Manila (1905), 34, 22, pls. 16 to 18 (nesting habits).
- Artamus leucorhynchus McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 91.
Git-git, Ticao, Lubang, and Manila; it-it, Bohol.
Bantayan (McGregor); Banton (Celestino); Basilan (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Bohol (Everett, McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Buluan (Mearns); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Caluya (Porter); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Murray, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Guimaras (Meyer, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Everett, Bartsch); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor, Bartsch); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindanao (Steere, Everett, Koch & Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Mindoro (Steere Exp., Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Keay); Palawan (Platen, Bourns & Worcester, White); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Papahag (Bartsch); Polillo (McGregor); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Samar (Whitehead); Semirara (Worcester); Sibay (McGregor & Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Burbidge, Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester, Bartsch); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor); Verde (McGregor). Australia, Papuan and Andaman Islands, Malay Archipelago.
Adult (sexes alike).—Upper tail-coverts pure white; remainder of upper parts with wings and tail slate-gray; mantle and back decidedly browner; primaries and rectrices blacker; loral and nasal plumes black; sides of head and neck slate-gray; chin, throat, and fore part of chest blackish slate; remainder of under parts, axillars, and wing-lining pure white. Iris dark; bill light blue, its tip black; legs and nails black. Length, 190 to 200. A male from Siquijor measures: Wing, 136; tail, 67; culmen from base, 21; bill from nostril, 15; tarsus, 16.5. A female from Luzon, wing, 137; tail, 66; culmen from base, 20; bill from nostril, 14; tarsus, 15.
Young.—Four large nestlings taken in Benguet, Luzon, April 19, 1903, resemble the adult in having the breast, abdomen, and crissum white. but the throat is light gray; chin, cheeks, and jaw dark smoky gray; upper parts light seal-brown with some ocherous-colored fringes to the feathers of back and inner wing-coverts; upper tail-coverts white; primaries, secondaries, and rectrices slate-blue with wide edges of gray or white. Iris brown; bill brown, yellowish along cutting edge; legs and feet blackish; nails black.
The nestling down is light buff.