Psittacus lucionensis Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 146.
Tanygnathus luconensis Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891),
20, 424; Grant, Ibis (1896), 561 (critical notes).
Tanygnathus luzonensis Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 30.
Tanygnathus lucionensis McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 49.
Pi-coy', Bohol and Ticao.
Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns &
Worcester, Doherty, McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Cagayan Sulu
(Guillemard, McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Caluya
(Porter); Cebu (Everett, McGregor); Guimaras (Meyer, Steere
Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Lapac (Guillemard); Leyte (Everett);
Luzon (Meyer, Whitehead, McGregor); Maestre de Campo (McGregor &
Worcester); Malanipa (Murray); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate
(Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Murray, Everett,
Koch & Schadenberg, Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow, Celestino);
Mindoro (Steere Exp., Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor,
Porter); Negros (Layard, Steere, Everett, Steere Exp., Keay);
Palawan (Steere, Everett, Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Steere
Exp., Bourns & Worcester, White); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns
& Worcester); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Samar
(Whitehead); Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester,
McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu
(Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester);
Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor); Verde (McGregor).
Adult.--Forehead, lores, and sides of face grass-green connecting with
the grass-green collar of hind neck; [36] crown and occiput bright
blue; rest of upper parts green, yellowish on the mantle and more
or less mixed with light blue on the back; below yellowish green,
becoming clear green on abdomen and under tail-coverts; primaries
blackish on inner web, dark green on outer web, tips of shorter ones
blue; secondaries mostly blue with light green edges; tertials green
with blue tips; alula and primary-coverts dark blue, black along the
shafts and more or less washed with green; distal greater and median
coverts bright blue with yellow-green margins; proximal greater and
median coverts with the middle black, surrounded by a narrow line
of bright blue followed by a wide edge of old gold; lesser coverts
black, some of the proximal ones bordered with blue and old gold;
tail grass-green above, dark golden yellow below.
Iris very pale straw, a narrow inner ring of darker yellow; upper
mandible bright scarlet, except tip which like the lower mandible is
dull yellow, cere black; legs dull green; nails dark horn. Length,
300 to 330 mm. Specimens from different parts of the Archipelago
vary greatly in measurements and colors. The sexes do not differ
except that the female is a little the smaller. Four males from Ticao
average: Wing, 195; tail, 132; culmen from cere, 33; tarsus, 18. Two
females from Ticao average: Wing, 187; tail, 126; culmen from cere,
28; tarsus, 18.
Young.--Differs from the adult in having little or no blue on the head
and face which are green; back largely sky-blue; blue of wings and
coverts largely replaced by green; the coverts bordered with light
yellowish green.
"The Philippine green parrot is the common cage bird of the natives,
who have doubtless aided in its dispersal. Escaped cage birds were
shot by us on several occasions. Called 'picoi' by the natives. Occurs
in deep forest, but is also very common in the open, especially about
dead trees, where it nests in natural cavities or in deserted holes
of the great woodpeckers (Thriponax).
"Iris of male birds has an outer ring of white and an inner of brown;
iris of females light yellow; legs and feet drab, nails black; bill
scarlet, yellowish at tip. Fully adult specimens show very great
variability as to size, running from 300 to 395. Fourteen males
from Tawi Tawi measure 325 in length; wing, 191; tail, 126; culmen,
29; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 29. Two females from Masbate
measure, length, 311; wing, 180; tail, 124; culmen, 30; tarsus, 17;
middle toe with claw, 35." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Grant finds some very considerable differences among specimens of
this species from various islands but evidently he considers them to
be of less than even subspecific value. Possibly this species will
eventually be split into several subspecies or races.