Tchitrea rufa Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1843), 11, 371.
Zeocephus rufus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1879), 4, 343;
Hand-List (1901), 3, 262; Grant, Ibis (1896), 112; Grant and
Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 235, pl. 5, fig. 4 (egg); Whitehead, Ibis
(1899), 103 (habits); Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903),
3, 279; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 74.
Mus-ca-dór ca-né-lo, Manila.
Cebu (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon
(Cuming, Heriot, Möllendorff, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester,
Whitehead, McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Mindoro (Steere
Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns
& Worcester); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Romblon
(Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Samar (Whitehead); Sibuyan (Bourns
& Worcester, McGregor); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino).
Adult male.--Entire plumage rich chestnut-rufous with inner webs
of primaries and secondaries seal-brown near their tips. Iris,
eyelids, and bill blue; bill edged and tipped with black; legs and
nails lighter blue. Wing, 87; tail, excepting central rectrices, 85;
central rectrices, 100 to 190; culmen from base, 20; bill from nostril,
13; tarsus, 16.
Adult female and immature.--Lighter in color and with lower breast,
abdomen, and tail-coverts whitish; central rectrices not greatly
lengthened.
"In Jour. für Orn. (1891), 294, Hartert very properly calls attention
to the fact that confusion evidently exists as to the distribution of
the two rufous species of Zeocephus, and he even seems to question the
distinctness of the two species. We have some suggestions to offer,
after looking over our series of thirty-one specimens from Luzon,
Mindoro, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi. First,
the young immature birds of Z. rufus have the white belly and general
coloring of Z. cinnamomeus. They are not to be distinguished from birds
of the latter species. Second, out of fifteen specimens from the south,
seven do not show a trace of white on the belly, and are of a uniform
deep rufous color. Third, we have a male bird in breeding plumage
from Cebu which is indistinguishable, so far as shade of rufous is
concerned, from Basilan birds. The confusion between the two species
is thus readily understood. Are they then distinct? We think that
they are for the following reasons: The average fully adult bird from
the northern islands is very much darker in color than the darkest
of the southern birds. The northern birds have the tail much more
strongly graduated than that of the birds from the south. None of our
specimens from the south show any special elongation of the central
tail-feathers. In one specimen from Tablas and another from Sibuyan the
central tail-feathers exceed the rest by fully 75 millimeters. Other
birds collected at the same time and place do not show nearly so
strong a development of these feathers, but the fact remains that
nothing even approaching it is shown by our specimens from the south.
"The dark tips of the tail-feathers described by Dr. Sharpe as
characteristic of Z. cinnamomeus are simply a sign of immaturity,
as is the white of the belly.
"Zeocephus rufus, then, inhabits the northern and central Philippines,
and is to be distinguished from Z. cinnamomeus by its darker color
when fully adult, and by its more strongly graduated tail, which has
the central feathers at least 75 millimeters longer than the others
when the birds are in perfect plumage.
"Four males from Cebu average: Length, 223; wing, 93; tail, 116;
culmen, 23; tarsus, 21; middle toe with claw, 18. Five females,
length, 201; wing, 86; tail, 106; culmen, 23; tarsus, 21; middle
toe with claw, 18. A male from Sibuyan with elongated tail-feathers
measures 283 in length; wing, 94; tail, 162; culmen, 24; tarsus,
17; middle toe with claw, 19. Iris almost black; legs and feet blue;
nails black, sometimes showing a little blue; bill and eye-wattles
bright blue. Breeding in Cebu in June." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
A set of three eggs was collected by Whitehead at Cape Engaño, Luzon,
on April 24, 1895. The eggs and nest are described as follows:
"Shape ovate. Ground-color pure white, with a decided zone of small
blotches and spots round the pole of the larger end; upper-markings
brown-lake, and under-markings lilac. Two of the eggs have small
dots of the darker color thinly scattered over the whole shell,
while in the third these markings are almost entirely confined to
the zone. Measurements 22 mm. by 16 mm.
"Nest much like that built by Hypothymis azurea, and placed in similar
positions, but within the brown lining is a second lining of fine black
fiber taken from the base of the palm-leaves." (Grant and Whitehead.)