Centrococcyx mindorensis Steere, List Birds. & Mams. Steere
Exped. (1900), 12.
Centropus mindorensis Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 19,
339; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 166; Grant, Ibis, (1896), 475;
McGregor, Bur. Govt. Labs. (1905), 34, 17; McGregor and Worcester,
Hand-List (1906), 63.
Mindoro (Steere Exp., Everett, Platen, Schmacker, Bourns &
Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor, Porter); Semirara (Worcester).
Adult (sexes similar).--Entire plumage black, heavily glossed with
oil-green; most of the feathers with glossy black shafts; in some
specimens the alula and primary-coverts edged with rufous. Iris dark
red; bill, legs, and nails black. Length of a male, 460; wing, 155;
tail, 270; culmen from base, 29; depth of bill at front of nostril, 13.
Young.--A young male taken May 11 is blackish brown; head and neck
glossed with green; chin, throat, and breast mottled with gray; wings
faintly glossed with green; primaries and secondaries slightly tipped
with dull rufous; alula and all upper wing-coverts barred with dull
rufous; tail black strongly glossed with green. Wing, 160; tail, 180;
culmen from base, 29.
Grant gives the following description of an immature male:
"The immature feathers in the upper parts are dull brownish black,
devoid of any gloss; the immature tail- and flight-feathers
are similarly colored, but slightly glossed, and the latter are
indistinctly barred with pale rufous on both webs. The throat, breast,
and belly are brownish black, indistinctly marked with buff; the rest
of the plumage is similar to that of the adult."
"Frequents bushes in open fields like C. viridis. Very common in
Mindoro. Four males average, 445 in length; wing, 167; tail, 268;
culmen, 37; tarsus, 35; middle toe with claw, 40. A female measures,
476 in length; wing, 176; tail, 279; culmen, 32; tarsus, 42; middle
toe with claw, 42. Iris red; bill, legs, and feet black. Food
insects." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
The Mindoro coucal builds a bulky globular nest of grass, with an
entrance on one side. A nest found in April was situated in a thick
bed of giant grass. The two eggs are dull white and covered with a
thin layer of a white, chalky substance; their measurements are 27.4
by 21.8 and 24.3 by 21.