Polophilus sinensis Stephens, Gen. Zool. (1815), 9, 51.
Centropus sinensis Shelley, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 19, 343;
Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1895), 3, 239, fig. 69 (foot);
Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 167; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds'
Eggs (1903), 3, 124; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 63.
Balabac (Everett); Cagayan Sulu (McGregor); Luzon (Cuming);
Palawan (Everett, Lempriere, Whitehead, Platen, Bourns &
Worcester, White); Sulu (Platen, Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi
(Everett). Malay Peninsula, Burmese countries, Ceylon, China,
India, Java, Sumatra, Borneo.
"Adult male.--General plumage black, with the wings and upper back
chestnut; head, neck, and chest glossed with purplish blue; remainder
of the body, lower back, upper tail-coverts, and tail glossed with
purplish green; primaries with brown ends; inner secondaries slightly
tinted with brown; under wing-coverts glossy black. 'Bill and legs
black; iris crimson.' (Davison.) Length, 559; culmen, 42; wing, 223;
tail, 312; tarsus, 58.
"Adult female.--Similar in plumage to the male. Length, 521; culmen,
46; wing, 211; tail, 284; tarsus, 56.
"Immature.--Plumage duller than in the adult and generally of a
greener shade; sides of head and front of neck with buffy white spots,
increasing into bars on the body; mantle, some of the wing-coverts,
and the innermost secondaries barred with black; upper tail-coverts
narrowly barred with buff; tail glossy greenish black, with no blue
shade." (Shelley.)
"Rare in Palawan; common in Sulu. Iris red; legs, feet, and nails
black; bill black; food insects. Two males measure, 555 in length;
wing, 198; tail, 312; culmen, 41; tarsus, 53; middle toe with claw,
50. Two females, length, 475; wing, 178; tail, 245; culmen, 37;
tarsus, 44; middle toe with claw, 45." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)