Phlogoenas platenæ "Blasius," Hartert, Jour. für Ornith. (1891)
302; Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1893), 21, 588; Sharpe,
Hand-List (1899), 1, 88; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 15.
Mindoro (Platen, Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor).
Adult (sexes similar).--Head and neck dark metallic green changing
to amethystine; scapulars, back, and rump chestnut, many of the
feathers edged with metallic green; below white becoming faint buff or
ochraceous on abdomen, flanks, and tail-coverts; finely speckled with
gray on sides of breast; red crop-patch very small; alula, primaries,
and primary-coverts brown; secondaries and coverts chestnut, except
some of the lesser series which are blackish with broad light gray
tips forming a conspicuous patch; upper tail-coverts and middle
pair of tail-feathers gray, remainder of rectrices blackish with
gray tips. Iris purple; bill black; legs dark rose-color; nails
gray. Length, 275 to 285. A male measures: Wing, 150; tail, 106;
exposed culmen, 20; tarsus, 34. A female: Wing, 141; tail, 100;
exposed culmen, 20; tarsus, 34.
Two nests with eggs were collected on the Baco River in 1905. The
first was taken April 28, and was placed 1.5 meters from the ground
on a horizontal limb of a small tree. The two eggs were advanced in
incubation. They measure 30 by 22 and 29 by 22. The second nest was
similarly placed in a shrub. The nest measures 200 by 280 mm. across
the top and is very shallow, the outside depth being about 50 mm. On
the bottom are a number of rather large leaves and sticks, topped by
fine rootlets and spiral plant-tendrils. The materials were poorly put
together so that a large part of the bottom fell off when the nest
was removed from its site. The two eggs were well incubated. They
measure 29 by 22 and 30 by 21. Their color is light cream.
"Common in the old forests in the interior of Mindoro, but very
difficult to shoot. We found its nest in a tangle of vines about two
meters above the ground. The female flew from the nest to the ground
and pretended to be lame. The nest, which contained two young birds,
was found in the month of May." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Subfamily CALOENADINÆ.
Genus CALOENAS Gray, 1840.
The genus Caloenas is distinguished by having the feathers of the
neck long, narrow, and pointed; bill deep, with a knob on the base
of culmen; legs and feet large, covered with large transverse plates;
tail short and square.