Adult male (Calayan Island, September).—Above smoke-gray; forehead whitish; primaries, secondaries, primary-coverts, and alula black slightly glossed with green, secondaries narrowly edged with white; secondary-coverts, scapulars, edge of wing, axillars, and wing-lining white; rectrices black, glossed with green, all but the middle pair with broad white tips; under parts white, light smoke-gray across the chest. Bill pale stone-gray; iris white; legs and nails light brown. Length, 197; wing, 105; tail, 62; culmen from base, 20; bill from nostril, 13; tarsus, 25.
Adult female (Manila, January).—Very similar to the male from Calayan, but the white and gray areas dark smoky gray, probably due to smoke stain. Iris pale blue. Length, 190; wing, 100; tail, 57; culmen from base, 19; tarsus, 25.
Immature female (Manila, January).—Similar to the adult, but secondary-coverts glossy black with light edgings.
Male (Malabon, near Manila, March).—Similar to the male from Calayan, but fore part of head, face, chin, secondary-coverts, scapulars, upper tail-coverts, sides, flanks, under tail-coverts, and tips of rectrices ochraceous-buff. Wing, 102; tail, 60; culmen from base, 18; tarsus, 23.
The gray-backed, or Chinese, starling has been taken in the Philippines but rarely; in addition to the specimens recorded by me from Calayan and Luzon, we have two specimens that were killed near Manila.
727. STURNIA PHILIPPENSIS (Forster).
VIOLET-BACKED STARLING.
- Motacilla philippensis Forster, Ind. Zool. (1781), 41.
- Motacilla violacea Boddaert, Tabl. Pl. Enl. (1783), 11.
- Sturnia violacea Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 13, 70.
- Sturnia philippensis McGregor, Bur. Govt. Laboratories, Manila (1905), 25, 30; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 108.
Bi-lit′ chí-na, Calayan.
Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (Heriot, McGregor); Mindanao (Steere); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Steere); Palawan (Platen, Bourns & Worcester, White); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester). Japan; in winter to Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas.