Phabotreron brevirostris Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877),
549; Challenger Report (1881), 2, Zool. pt. 8, pl. 6; Salvadori,
Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1893), 21, 69; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899),
1, 55.
Phapitreron brevirostris McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 10.
Dinagat (Everett); Leyte (Everett, Steere Exp., Whitehead);
Mindanao (Murray, Everett, Koch & Schadenberg, Goodfellow, Clemens,
Celestino); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead);
Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Guillemard).
"Similar to P. leucotis, from which it differs in having the forehead
and throat grayish fulvous, the occiput constantly amethystine, and
the rectrices with a decided amethystine tinge; it resembles also
P. nigrorum, especially as regards the coloring of the forehead and
throat, but it differs in having the subocular streak white and the
occiput more amethystine. Length, about 240; wing, 124; tail, 99;
bill, 13; tarsus, 19." (Salvadori.)
"It seems to us that there must be something wrong about the Sulu
record of P. brevirostris. We obtained no pigeons of the P. leucotis
type in Sulu, and the single specimen obtained by us in Tawi Tawi
has been lost or destroyed, so that we are unable to identify it,
but it would be indeed remarkable if P. brevirostris should give way
to P. occipitalis in Basilan only to reappear in Sulu. In the face of
Count Salvadori's identification of Guillemard's specimen, however,
we have nothing to say.
"Iris purple; legs and feet deep purple; nails brown. Five birds from
Samar and Siquijor average: Length, 235; wing, 122; tail, 83; culmen,
19; tarsus, 19; middle toe with claw, 26. A female from Mindanao
is larger, measuring: Length, 250; wing, 127; tail, 94; culmen, 17;
tarsus, 19; middle toe with claw, 28." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)