653. ÆTHOPYGA MAGNIFICA Sharpe.
MAGNIFICENT SUNBIRD.
- Æthopyga magnifica Sharpe, Nature (1876), 14, 297; Trans. Linn. Soc. 2d. ser. Zool. (1877), 1, 342; Shelley, Monogr. Nectarin. pt. 3 (1877), 51, pl. 17; Gadow, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1884), 9, 24; Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 241, pl. 5, figs. 5 & 6 (eggs); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 229 (nest); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 98.
Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Steere, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, Celestino); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino).
Male.—Forehead and malar stripe metallic, dark royal purple; remainder of head, entire neck, and mantle bright poppy-red; chin, throat, and breast scarlet-vermilion, the basal and central parts of the feathers pale yellow; back and rump black with a median more or less concealed patch of gamboge-yellow; tail and coverts metallic royal purple; wings, lower breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts dead black; axillars and wing-lining black; lesser and median wing-coverts red, and some of the greater coverts narrowly edged with red. A male from Cebu measures: Wing, 59; tail, 49; culmen from base, 24; bill from nostril, 19; tarsus, 16. Upper mandible brown, lower mandible reddish flesh; legs and nails dark brown.
Female.—Dull green with a slight reddish wash across the back; wing-feathers and rectrices blackish brown, the latter edged with dark crimson; wing-feathers and rump more faintly washed with crimson. A female from Cebu, wing, 56; tail, 43; culmen from base, 22; bill from nostril, 18; tarsus, 15.
Young birds resemble the adult female, but the young males early show indications of the red throat and breast and of the black abdomen.
“Eight males from Negros average: Length, 133; wing, 57.6; tail, 47.4; culmen, 25; tarsus, 15; middle toe with claw, 15. Three females from Cebu measure: Length, 125; wing, 55; tail, 41; culmen, 25; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 16. Nine males from Sibuyan average: Length, 137; wing, 61; tail, 51; culmen, 25; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 16.
“It will be seen that the Sibuyan birds belong to a larger race, but we do not think they can be specifically separated. Breeding in the month of June in Cebu. Native name in Negros ‘a-na-nag-bac.’ Shot in Sibuyan 1,100 meters above sea-level.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)