Ceyx mindanensis Steere, List Birds & Mams. Steere Exped. (1890),
10; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 17, 181 (foot
note); Hand-List (1900), 2, 53; Bourns and Worcester, Minnesota
Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. Papers (1894), 1, 47; McGregor and Worcester,
Hand-List (1906), 53.
Ceyx basilanica Steere, List Birds & Mams. Steere Exped. (1890),
10.
Ceyx platenæ Blasius, Jour. für Orn. (1890), 141.
Basilan (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Steere,
Steere Exp., Platen, Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow).
"Above rufous; head, cheeks, and back thickly spotted with bright
lilac; wings black, secondaries edged with rufous; coverts black,
broadly tipped with rufous, these rufous tips carrying faint lilac
spots; breast rufous washed with bright lilac." (Steere.)
"With a very large series of specimens from Mindanao and Basilan
at our disposal we are unable to detect the slightest difference
between the birds from the two islands and we therefore unite them
under the name C. mindanensis, as the Mindanao birds were obtained
and described first. Frequents forest or low second growth away from
water." (Bourns and Worcester.)
"Since Steere has attempted to separate the Mindanao and Basilan birds,
we give measurements from all our specimens:
"Eight males from Basilan measure, 134 in length; wing, 58; tail,
21; culmen, 36; tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 16.
"Eighteen females from the same place measure, 135 in length; wing,
58; tail, 22; culmen, 39; tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 14.
"Four males from Mindanao measure, length, 135; wing, 58; tail, 22;
culmen, 39; tarsus, 8; middle toe with claw, 15.
"Two females from same island measure, 143 in length; wing, 59; tail,
23; culmen, 39; tarsus, 9; middle toe with claw, 16.
"Iris very dark brown; bill, legs, feet, and nails scarlet to
orange-red. Usually keeps near ground. Occasionally alights 5 to
10 meters above ground. Food, insects and their larvæ." (Bourns and
Worcester MS.)