Eudynamis frater McGregor, Bull. Philippine Mus. (1904), 4, 21;
McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 63.
Calayan (McGregor); Fuga (Whitehead, McGregor).
Male.--Entire plumage glossy blue-black. Bill dusky greenish; iris
crimson; legs and feet dark steel-blue; nails brown. Length, 490;
wing, 241; tail, 237; exposed culmen, 31; bill from nostril, 22.
Female.--Above dark brown with a faint purple gloss on wing-coverts
and scapulars; feathers of crown, neck, and sides of face with rufous
shaft-stripes; back, rump, and wings with small tawny-rufous spots,
quills and tail barred with same color; lower parts buff (inclining
to white on middle of breast) barred with black; a more or less
distinct white band from base of bill to below posterior edge of
ear-coverts, wider posteriorly; below this a wide band of dark rufous
mixed with black; ear-coverts similar; chin and throat striped with
black and tawny-buff. Bill dusky greenish; iris crimson; legs and
feet steel-blue; nails brown. Length, 490; wing, 240; tail, 227;
exposed culmen, 31; bill from nostril, 22.
Subfamily CENTROPODINÆ.
Genus CENTROPUS Illiger, 1811.
Bill powerful, strongly curved; legs and feet strong, tarsus naked;
claw of hind toe very long and slender, nearly straight; wings short,
rounded, and curved to the body, primaries but little longer than
secondaries; tail very long, its feathers wide and soft; feathers
of head, neck, and throat coarse and decomposed, their shafts strong
and polished.
Species.
a1. Head, chin, and throat black; wings neither chestnut nor fawn.
b1. Entire plumage nearly uniform black, glossed with oil-green.
c1. Slightly smaller; culmen in male, about 29 mm. ... mindorensis
(p. 381)
c2. Slightly larger; culmen in male, about 32 mm. ... carpenteri
(p. 382)
b2. Neck and breast smoky brown in contrast with the black of head
and throat. ... steeri (p. 382)
a2. Not uniform black; wings chestnut, rufous, or fawn.
b1. Tail black, glossed with blue or green.
c1. Under parts nearly uniform black.
d1. Head, neck, and breast glossed with bluish violet; wing,
220 mm. or more. ... sinensis (p. 383)
d2. Head, neck, and breast glossed with oil-green or dark blue;
wing, 190 mm. or less.
e1. Wings bright rufous; shafts of wing-coverts rufous;
wing-lining black. ... viridis (p. 383)
e2. Wings dark buff; shafts of wing-coverts pale buff;
wing-lining buff. ... javanicus (p. 384)
c2. Chin, throat, and breast light buff; abdomen black, glossed
with oil-green. ... melanops (p. 386)
b2. Tail and entire upper parts uniform rufous. ... unirufus (p. 386)