Muscicapula samarensis Bourns and Worcester, Minnesota
Acad. Nat. Sci. Occ. Papers (1894), 1, 26; Grant and Whitehead,
Ibis (1898), 237, pl. 6, fig. 6 (egg); Whitehead, Ibis (1899),
105 (habits, plumage); Sharpe, Hand-List (1901), 3, 224; Oates
and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 263; McGregor and Worcester,
Hand-List (1906), 72.
Leyte (Whitehead); Samar (Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester).
"Adult male.--Top of head, sides of face, ear-coverts, and hind neck
nearly black; back, rump, and upper wing-coverts uniform dark slaty
blue; quills and tail fulvous-brown, slightly washed with slaty blue;
chin and throat white; entire breast bluish gray, lightest on center
of breast; abdomen white; flanks washed with bluish gray; under
wing-coverts light buff, nearly white at base; sides dark slate-color
as are under wing-coverts and axillars, the latter, however, mottled
with white; a superciliary stripe of white beginning over eye and
extending to nape, then inward, nearly reaching the median line;
sexes alike. Iris very dark brown; bill black; legs, feet, and nails
very light brown. Measurements from four males: Length, 119; wing,
61; tail, 38; culmen, 15; tarsus, 20.
"The specimens described are in breeding plumage. They were shot
close to, or on, the ground in dense thickets in the deep woods.
"This species is closely allied to M. mindanensis Blasius, from
which it differs in its darker head, lighter tail, and much larger
superciliary stripe. None of our specimens shows a white bar on
the rump, but we find the Mindanao-Basilan birds variable in this
respect." (Bourns and Worcester.)
"Female.--Upper parts rusty brown, darkest on the crown, and shading
into chestnut on the upper tail-coverts, the superciliary stripes
of the male only represented by a white feather or two on the sides
of the occiput; wings and tail dark brown, the exposed parts of the
quills mostly chestnut; sides of the head and neck light rusty brown,
palest round the eye, and forming a rather marked ring; under parts
much like those of the male, but the distinct gray pectoral zone
is replaced by one tinged with rusty; thighs brownish buff, under
tail-coverts buff. The type measures: Length, 109; culmen, 14; wing,
61; tail, 37; tarsus, 19. A second female measures: Length, 109;
culmen, 15; wing, 62; tail, 37; tarsus, 19.
"In general appearance the female of Muscicapula samarensis bears
a close resemblance to Rhynomyias ruficauda, the under parts being
strangely alike in both. The latter species is, however, easily
recognized by its much longer tail. 'Iris and bill black; tarsus
bluish white; feet white.--J. W.'
"The Samar white-browed flycatcher is described by Messrs. Bourns and
Worcester as having the sexes alike, but a mistake has evidently been
made in ascertaining the sex of the slate-colored bird described as
a female. Mr. Whitehead obtained two pairs of this species, and the
females differ entirely from the males in the color of the upper parts,
which are rusty brown, while the strongly marked white eyebrow-stripes
are practically absent. There can not be the slightest doubt that
the rufous-brown females are fully adult, for one was shot from a
nest with four eggs, and that they belong to the same species as the
slate-gray males is almost equally certain.
"I observe that the type of M. mindanensis Blasius, Jour. für
Orn. (1890), 147, a gray bird, is said to have been a female, but here
probably a mistake has been made. There are two adult gray examples
of this flycatcher from the Steere collection, both of which are
said to be males, and they agree perfectly with the description of
the type." (Grant.)
Whitehead secured two fresh eggs of the Samar white-browed flycatcher
near Paranas, Samar, on June 17, 1896. The eggs and nest are described
as follows:
"Shape ovate. Ground-color beautiful sea-green, speckled all over,
especially toward the larger end, with pale brown, the over-markings
being slightly darker and smaller. Measurements 19 mm. by 13 mm.
"The nest, a remarkably frail structure, was made of roots and lined
with broad leaves. It was well concealed, being placed close to the
ground in a heap of forest-drift near some rocks. The female bird
was snared." (Grant and Whitehead.)
Genus GERYGONE Gould, 1841.
Bill moderately depressed, depth at nostrils equal to about two-thirds
of its width, or two-fifths of bill from nostril; culmen with a
slight ridge; rictal and nasal bristles moderate; wing fairly long,
covering when folded about two-thirds of the tail; first primary
narrow, equal to one-half of second which is considerable shorter
than the subequal third, fifth, and sixth; fourth primary slightly
the longest; tarsus slender and equal to twice the length of exposed
culmen; tail slightly rounded and considerably shorter than wing. The
two Philippine species are very similar in colors; upper parts ashy
brown, lower part light yellow, lores whitish.
Species.
a1. Crown slightly lighter. (Luzon, Mindoro, and other northern
islands.) ... simplex (p. 447)
a2. Crown slightly darker. (Mindanao and Sulu Islands.) ... rhizophoræ
(p. 448)