Three eggs of the yellow-breasted sunbird from Marinduque, May 17, 1888, collected by Steere, are described as follows: “Shape ovate. Ground-color whitish partially obscured by the mottled gray under markings, which cover the greater part of the shell; over markings pale brown, with a few spots and irregular marks of a deep brown. Measurements 16 mm. by 12 mm.
“The nest is a neatly woven pocket-shaped structure, with a roofed entrance at the side. It is composed of fiber, dead grasses, and other forest débris bound together with spiders’ webs and lined with cotton and fine grass.” (Grant and Whitehead.)
670. CINNYRIS AURORA (Tweeddale).
ORANGE-BREASTED SUNBIRD.
- Cyrtostomus aurora Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1878), 620.
- Cinnyris aurora Shelley, Monogr. Nectarin. pts. 9 & 10 (1879), 149, pts. 11 & 12 (1880), pl.; Gadow, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1884), 9, 88; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 99.
A-ru-ma-sít, Cuyo; da-gu-man′, Cagayancillo.
Agutaya (McGregor); Balabac (Steere Exp.); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Palawan (Everett, Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, White).
Male.—Very similar to the male of C. jugularis, but distinguished by a patch or broad band of orpiment-orange next to the black chest. A male from Cuyo measures: Wing, 55; tail, 37; culmen from base, 21; bill from nostril, 17; tarsus, 16.
Female.—Similar to the female of C. jugularis. A female from Siquijor measures: Wing, 50; tail, 34; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 15; tarsus, 15.
The young male gradually acquires the black chin and throat in the manner of C. jugularis and develops the orange patch at the same time.