Phyllornis flavipennis Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877), 761;
pl. 77, fig. 1.
Chloropsis flavipennis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 6,
34; Hand-List (1901), 3, 308; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 78.
Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindanao (Platen,
Celestino).
Male and female.--Nearly the entire plumage leaf- or grass-green,
much darker above than below; lores, ring about eye, ear-coverts,
and chin washed with light yellow; outer webs of some primaries and
inner webs of all the remiges and rectrices, edged with chamois-yellow;
lower thighs chamois-yellow; shafts of flight-feathers black. Three
males from Cebu measure: Wing, 91 to 96; tail, 74 to 76; bill from
nostril, 16 to 17. Three females, wing, 89 to 91; tail, 72 to 76;
bill from nostril, 15 to 16.
This species, which is very distinct from C. palawanensis, is rare
in the only islands where it has been found.
"Found only in the forest and breeding in June. Nine males average:
Length, 200; wing, 92; tail, 75; culmen, 25; tarsus, 18; middle toe
with claw, 20. Four females, length, 183; wing, 86; tail, 70; culmen,
24; tarsus, 17; middle toe with claw, 20. Iris dark brown to black;
upper mandible almost black, lower drab." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Genus IRENA Horsfield, 1821.
Nuchal hairs well developed, their exposed portions equal to about
two-thirds the length of bill from nostril; nostrils hidden by short
close-set feathers; a notch near the tip of each mandible; primaries
longer than secondaries by much more than tarsus; tarsus less than
bill from nostril; tail slightly rounded. Colors blue and black. In
the thin and tender skin and hidden nostrils this genus shows some
affinity to the Campophagidæ; the well-developed nuchal hairs and
short tarsus indicate a close relationship to the bulbuls.
Species.
a1. Mantle and back blue.
b1. Chin and throat black.
c1. Crown and nape cobalt; mantle and back
navy-blue. ... cyanogastra (p. 500)
c2. Crown, mantle, and back bright turquoise-blue
(male). ... tweeddali (p. 502)
b2. Chin and throat and nearly the entire plumage dull verditer-blue
(female). ... tweeddali (p. 502)
a2. Mantle and back velvety black. ... melanochlamys (p. 501); ellæ
(p. 500)