Zosterornis dennistouni Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1895), 5,
2; Ibis (1896), 118, pl. 3, fig. 2; (1897), 234 (key to species);
Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 223, (habits); Sharpe, Hand-List (1903),
4, 51; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 82.
Luzon (Whitehead).
"Adult male and female.--Forehead and crown shining golden yellow,
shading into yellowish gray on the back and sides of the head and
neck, and greenish gray on the back and rest of the upper parts, all
the feathers with narrow whitish shaft-stripes; wings dark brown,
the quills margined with yellowish brown; chin and throat golden
yellow, but paler than the crown, and shading into whitish yellow
on the breast and rest of under parts; sides and flanks washed with
greenish gray; tail-feathers brownish black, margined on the outer
webs with yellowish brown, the five outer pairs tipped with white,
the tips increasing in width towards the outer pair, which has also
the greater part of the outer web white.
"Immature birds resemble the adult, but the golden yellow forehead is
represented by yellowish brown feathers with pale middles, the quills
are edged with rufous, and the under parts are white slightly tinged
with yellow." (Grant.)
Grant's measurements of the types, converted to millimeters, are:
Male, length, 140; wing, 68; tail, 61; culmen, 18; tarsus, 19; female,
length, 135; wing, 66; tail, 56; culmen, 18; tarsus, 19.
The yellow tree babbler is resident in the vicinity of Cape Engaño,
northern Luzon.