Cecropis striolata Boie, Isis (1844), 174.
Hirundo striolata Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1885), 10,
161; Hand-List (1901), 3, 196; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 236
(migration in northern Luzon); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 70; McGregor, Phil. Journ. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 326
(nesting habits).
Batan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin
N. (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Luzon (Whitehead); Masbate
(Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Porter). Formosa, southern China,
Burmese provinces, Java, Assam, Flores, Cachar.
Adult (sexes similar).--Above, except rump, dark steel-blue; loral
feathers black with gray bases; a more or less triangular patch
above and behind ear-coverts chestnut, streaked with black, continued
forward over eye and slightly connected across occiput by fine lines
of chestnut; feathers of neck and upper back largely white basally,
this showing as white lines; under tail-coverts black; remainder
of under parts including axillars and wing-lining white, or very
pale fawn, with conspicuous blackish shaft-lines producing a very
striking appearance; rump rusty chestnut with blackish shaft-lines;
tail-coverts, secondaries, and secondary-coverts black, slightly
glossed with blue; alula, primary-coverts, primaries, and rectrices
black, slightly glossed with dark green. Bill black; legs and nails
brown. Length, 190 to 195. A male from Cebu measures: Wing, 123; tail,
102; depth of fork, 55; bill from nostril, 6; tarsus, 14. A female
from Cebu, wing, 120; tail, 93; depth of fork, 46; bill from nostril,
6; tarsus, 14.
Young.--General color pattern as in the adult, but head and back less
strongly glossed with blue; chestnut on head and rump much lighter;
wings and tail dark brown instead of black, and inner secondaries
tipped with white; lower parts heavily washed with fawn, and
shaft-stripes shorter, browner, and less sharply defined, very faint
or altogether wanting on abdomen and under tail-coverts; axillars,
wing-lining, and flanks strongly washed with fawn, shaft-lines faint
or wanting.
If the Philippine representatives of the mosque swallow be included
with H. striolata, as they must be at present, this species has a
considerable range but it appears to be very local in occurrence. It
may be found in numbers in one part of an island and be altogether
absent a short distance away. It often appears in large flocks and may
disappear within a few hours. I found it nesting in Bohol Island in May
and in the Island of Batan during June. The nest is a bottle-shaped
structure of mud, plastered to a wall in a cave or to a beam beneath
a building. The eggs are pure white; three from Bohol measure: 22.6
by 14.7; 22.3 by 14.2; 22.8 by 14.7.
Family MUSCICAPIDÆ.
Edges of mandibles smooth with a small notch near the tip of the upper
one; bill moderately broad and flat; nostrils protected by a number
of long frontal bristles; frontal feathers more or less antrorse
(soft and pile-like in some genera), but not entirely concealing
the nostrils; rictal bristles long, numerous, and stiff; wings and
tail long, the latter extremely long in some species; first primary,
rarely minute, usually from one-half to two-thirds as long as wing;
tarsus and feet slender and weak, the former rather short. This family
contains a great number of closely related genera the species of which,
in many cases, are not easily determined except from adult males.
Typically the bill is broad and flat, but in certain genera it is
narrow and scarcely differs from the bill of some Turdine and Silvine
birds. The frontal nasal bristles, long rictal bristles, and the
weak legs and feet, are the most reliable family characters of this
group. In the typical flycatchers the skin is very thin and tender
which, taken in combination with their small necks and large heads,
makes their preparation as specimens very trying.
Some of the most beautiful birds found in the Philippine Islands belong
to this family, but several of the species are plainly colored. The
males in a few genera possess greatly lengthened tail-feathers;
in some others the head is crested.
Genera.
a1. First primary very small and less than tarsus, equal to about
one-fifth of second primary, the latter nearly as long as the
third. ... Hemichelidon (p. 431)
a2. First primary longer and equal to, or greater than, tarsus;
second primary less than three times the first.
b1. Second primary longer, equal to nearly three times the first.
c1. Sexes unlike in colors; bill neither very broad nor flat.
d1. Tarsus about twice the bill from nostril; colors of male
yellow, black, and white. ... Zanthopygia (p. 449)
d2. Tarsus decidedly less than twice the bill from nostril;
colors of male blue, black, and white. ... Cyanoptila (p. 450)
c2. Sexes alike in colors; bill broad and flat. ... Alseonax
(p. 435)
b2. Second primary less than two and one-half times, and usually
less than twice, the first primary in length.
c1. Tail decidedly shorter than wing; total length usually less
than 150 mm.; wing less than 80.
d1. Most of the plumage blue; usually with more or less black
on forehead, lores, and chin.
e1. General color azure-blue; head in adult conspicuously
crested. ... Camiguinia (p. 453)
e2. General color verditer-blue; head uncrested. ... Eumyias
(p. 477)
d2. Most of the plumage not blue.
e1. General color bright yellow or olive-green, the under
parts at least, yellow or greenish yellow.
f1. Bill greatly flattened, width at base nearly equal
to bill from nostril; rictal bristles strong, much
longer than bill from nostril; breast and abdomen bright
yellow. ... Culicicapa (p. 472)
f2. Rictal bristles weak, shorter than bill from nostril;
width of bill at base much less than bill from nostril.
g1. Under parts pale yellow; upper parts earthy
brown. ... Gerygone (p. 447)
g2. Under parts greenish, or else white streaked with pale
yellow; upper parts olive-green. ... Cryptolopha (p. 473)
e2. General color neither yellow, olive-green, nor greenish
yellow.
f1. Tail relatively longer, three to three and one-half
times the tarsus.
g1. Throat and breast orange-buff or blue, never
white. ... Cyornis (p. 436)
g2. Throat and breast white, never buff nor
blue. ... Rhinomyias (p. 467)
f2. Tail relatively shorter, equal to about two and one-half
times the tarsus. ... Muscicapula (p. 441)
c1. Tail equal to or longer than wing, sometimes very much longer.
d1. Without a distinct fleshy eye-wattle and without an elongated
nuchal crest.
e1. Rictal bristles very strong and conspicuous, the longest
equal to bill from base; plumage of crown not soft and
velvety. ... Rhipidura (p. 456)
e2. Rictal bristles few, small and inconspicuous, the longest
less than culmen from base; plumage of head soft and velvety;
color mostly bright blue, never chestnut-brown. ... Hypothymis
(p. 451)
d2. With a distinct fleshy eye-wattle; and with either a full
or a long nuchal crest.
e1. Plumage mostly blue, or else reddish chestnut, never black.
f1. Much smaller; wing less than 80 mm.; feathers of crown
scale-like; occipital crest-feathers long and slender;
plumage bright blue. ... Cyanomyias (p. 455)
f2. Much larger; wing more than 90 mm.; feathers of crown
not scale-like; occipital crest full but not greatly
lengthened. ... Xeocephus (p. 461)
e2. Plumage of adult male black and white; central
tail-feathers very long; in no age of either sex is the
plumage either largely blue or chestnut; wing, about 90
mm. ... Terpsiphone (p. 465)
Genus HEMICHELIDON Hodgson 1845.
Bill very broad at base, slightly compressed toward the tip which
is pointed; bill from nostril a little more than half the length of
tarsus; wings long and pointed, when folded reaching at least half way
to tip of tail; first primary short and small, not longer than tarsus;
second primary slightly shorter than fourth, the latter nearly as long
as third. Sexes similar; plumage mostly brown, gray, or ferruginous.
Species.
a1. Tail uniform blackish brown; upper surface of body dusky or ashy
brown; upper tail-coverts like back.
b1. Breast and sides of body smoky brown somewhat streaked with
gray. ... sibirica [56] (p. 432)
b2. Breast and sides of body white, feathers with wide shaft-streaks
of smoky brown or gray ... griseosticta (p. 433)
a2. Tail ferruginous, its feathers with dark brown outer webs; back
and rump ferruginous ... ferruginea (p. 434)