Hypothymis coelestis Tweeddale, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1877), IV,
20, 536; Proc. Zool. Soc. (1878), 109, pl. 7, fig. 1 ([female]).
Cyanomyias coelestis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1879), 4,
278; Hand-List (1901), 3, 249; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 73.
Basilan (Steere Exp., McGregor); Dinagat (Everett); Luzon
(McGregor); Mindanao (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sibuyan
(Bourns & Worcester).
Male.--General color blue; forehead, lores, and entire head
and face clear cerulean blue contrasting strongly with the light
cobalt-blue of back, wings, and tail; chin, throat, and fore breast
deep azure-blue, becoming gradually fainter and more greenish on
lower breast; abdomen, flanks, and under tail-coverts white, washed
more or less with turquoise-blue; thighs blue; rectrices black below
and their inner webs black above; primaries and secondaries black,
edged with blue. Iris white; eyelids light greenish yellow; bill
dark blue like throat with black tip and edges; legs very dark blue;
nails black. Length of a male from Basilan, 165; wing, 75; tail, 76;
culmen from base, 14; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 16; crest, 36.
Female.--Differs from the male in having a much shorter crest and
less intense colors; top of head darker, of nearly the same shade as
back and wings; throat and breast cobalt instead of azure. Wing, 73;
tail, 70; bill from nostril, 15; tarsus, 16; crest, 17.
This magnificent flycatcher is very rare; it is found in small numbers,
feeding and moving about in the tops of forest trees, associated with
species of such genera as Hypothymis, Rhipidura, and Pardaliparus.
"A very rare bird. Found only by accident, and always with other
flycatchers. Four males average: Length, 159; wing, 72; tail, 74;
culmen, 16; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 15. Two females,
length, 154; wing, 73; tail, 74; culmen, 16; tarsus, 17; middle toe
with claw, 16. Iris dark brown; legs and feet slaty blue, nails black;
bill black at tip and along gape, elsewhere blue; eye-wattles greenish
yellow." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Genus RHIPIDURA Vigors and Horsfield, 1826.
Rictal bristles long and conspicuous, equal to culmen from base
or longer; bill wide, depressed for most of its length, slightly
compressed near tip; wing shorter than tail; first primary more than
one-half of second and less than one-half of third; fourth, fifth,
and sixth nearly equal, fifth longest; tail-feathers graduated,
the difference between outermost and middle rectrices equal to or
greater than culmen; plumage soft, that of head neither scale-like
nor pile-like; colors various.
I can see no good reason why Hypothymis superciliaris Sharpe and
H. samarensis Steere should not be placed in the genus Rhipidura;
their long graduated tail-feathers, long stiff oral bristles, and lax
plumage, as well as the similarity in the coloration of the sexes,
certainly unite them with the members of Rhipidura. [59]
Species.
a1. Head, throat, and fore-breast blue or blue-gray.
b1. Entire upper parts blue.
c1. Blue of upper parts lighter, especially on crown; silvery
cobalt of forehead more conspicuous. ... superciliaris (p. 456)
c2. Blue of upper parts darker, crown nearly black; less silvery
cobalt on forehead. ... samarensis (p. 457)
b2. Back, wings, and tail largely chestnut or cinnamon.
c1. Abdomen and flanks white. ... albiventris (p. 457)
c2. Abdomen and flanks brown.
d1. Smaller; crown lighter; abdomen and flanks
cinnamon-brown. ... cyaniceps (p. 458)
d2. Larger; crown darker; abdomen and flanks light
chestnut-brown. ... sauli (p. 458)
a2. Top and sides of head black.
b1. Chin and throat black.
c1. Fore breast cinnamon-brown like the rest of breast and
abdomen. ... nigrocinnamomea (p. 459)
c2. Fore breast white. ... hutchinsoni (p. 460)
b2. Chin and throat white with a black pectoral
band. ... nigritorquis (p. 460)