Cuculus coromandus Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12, (1766), 1, 171.
Coccystes coromandus Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 19,
214; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 155; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds'
Eggs (1903), 3, 103, pl. 2, fig. 4; McGregor and Worcester,
Hand-List (1906), 60.
Mindanao (Everett); Palawan (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Bourns
& Worcester). Malay and Indian Peninsulas, Burmese countries,
southern and central China, Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes.
"Adult male.--Entire upper half of head black, strongly glossed with
blue on the crest; across the back of the neck a clear white collar;
back black, strongly glossed with greenish blue, and passing into
glossy olive-green on the scapulars and inner portion of wings;
remainder of wings chestnut, with brown ends to the quills; tail
glossy violet-black, most of the feathers, especially the outer ones,
partially tipped with white; throat chestnut-buff; chest buffy white;
flanks, abdomen, and thighs grayish ash, passing into violet-black
on under tail-coverts; under surface of wings chestnut, fading
into buff towards the least coverts, and into brown at the ends
of the quills. 'Iris dark brown; bill black, with the pale basal
portion of lower mandible light gray; legs, feet, and claws slaty
blue.' (Darling.) Length, 406; culmen, 28; wing, 173; tail, 254;
tarsus, 25.
"Adult female.--Similar in plumage to the male, but smaller. Length,
381; culmen, 30; wing, 155; tail, 229; tarsus, 25. Colonel Legge
states that the female bird is larger than the male, but this is not
borne out by the series in the [British] museum.
"Nestling.--Differs from the adult in having most of the feathers
of the upper parts tipped with rufous, the collar being shaded
with rufous; the tail-feathers broadly tipped with pale sandy buff;
the throat buffy white like the chest, and the under tail-coverts
rufous-buff. Length, 350; wing, 160." (Shelley.)
"Apparently a stranger in the Philippines. A single specimen
was obtained by Everett in Mindanao. We obtained one specimen in
Siquijor, and another in Palawan. No other example was met with on
our trip. The Palawan specimen, a female, measures, 375 in length;
wing, 153; tail, 219; culmen, 30; tarsus, 30; middle toe with claw,
29. Iris dark brown; legs, feet, and nails slaty blue; bill black,
pale at base of lower mandible." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Genus SURNICULUS Lesson, 1831.
Length, about 215 mm; plumage almost entirely black; tail nearly
square, tips of the feathers turned outward giving the tail a forked
appearance like that of a drongo (Dicrurus); outer pair of feathers
much shorter than the rest.
Species.
a1. Tail longer, about 120 mm.; head, neck, and back with a light
oil-green gloss. ... lugubris (p. 366)
a2. Tail shorter, about 100 mm.; head, neck, and back blue-black
without gloss. ... velutinus (p. 367)