Pelargopsis gouldi Sharpe, Ibis (1870), 63; Cat. Birds
Brit. Mus. (1892), 17, 100; Hand-List (1900), 2, 49; Grant, Ibis
(1896), 470; McGregor, Bur. Govt. Labs. (1905), 34, 12, pl. 9
(nest); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 52.
Balabac (Everett); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor);
Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Cuming); Mindoro (Steere Exp.,
Schmacker, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor, Porter);
Palawan (Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., White).
"Adult (type of species).--Entire head and neck, as well as the whole
of the under surface of the body, rich ochraceous; upper part of
back, scapulars, wing-coverts, upper tail-coverts, and tail bluish
green; quills and tail-feathers rather more blue; entire back and
rump silvery cobalt. Length, 330; culmen, 81; wing, 152; tail, 89;
tarsus, 13." (Sharpe.)
Iris dark brown; bill and legs bright scarlet; nails dark brown;
eyelids scarlet. A male from Mindoro is 343 in length; wing, 143;
tail, 89; culmen, 85; tarsus, 15.
Individuals of this species are often found near the seashore where
they feed on small crabs; at other times they are fairly common
in mangrove swamps. A nest found in Mindoro on April 18, 1905, was
excavated in a deserted termites' nest which was fastened to a tree at
about 9 meters from the ground. The three incubated eggs were glossy
white and measured 37.8 by 27.6; 39.8 by 28.9 and 39.6 by 28.9.
"In Volume XVII of the Catalogue of Birds, P. gouldi is recorded
from Panay, the specimen having been collected by the Challenger
expedition. This specimen seems to have been identified with some
doubt as P. gigantea by Lord Walden, Proceedings of the Zoological
Society (1877), 536. It would seem altogether probable that this
identification was correct, as P. gigantea has since been repeatedly
found in the central Philippines." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)