Mixornis nigrocapitatus Steere, List Birds and Mams. Steere
Exped. (1890), 17.
Zosterornis nigrocapitatus Grant, Ibis (1897), 232; Whitehead,
Ibis (1899), 223 (habits).
Zosterornis nigrocapitata Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 51;
McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 82 (part).
Bohol (McGregor); Leyte (Steere Exp., Whitehead); Samar (Steere
Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead).
Adult (male and female).--Forehead, lores, and crown black, on each
side behind eye a small patch of dark chestnut; remainder of upper
parts ashy gray with lighter shaft-stripes; tail-coverts slightly
olivaceous; ear-coverts and sides of head and neck like the back;
chin and throat clear saffron-yellow, extending faintly onto fore
breast; a short stripe of dark chestnut on each side of throat;
middle of lower breast and abdomen and tail-coverts white; sides,
flanks, and thighs gray; quills brown, externally edged with dull
olivaceous, internally with white; median and lesser coverts like the
back; rectrices brown, all but the middle pair tipped with white which
increases on each pair toward the outermost, the outer webs of which
are entirely white. Length, about 145. A male from Bohol measures:
Wing, 68; tail, 62; culmen from base, 14.5; bill from nostril, 9;
tarsus, 17. A female, wing, 65.5; tail, 59; culmen from base, 15;
bill from nostril, 9.5; tarsus, 17.
"Professor Steere originally described this bird as a Mixornis,
but the structure of the nasal opening, as well as the shape of the
wing, clearly shows that it is a species of Zosterornis, most nearly
allied to Z. dennistouni Grant from Luzon. Young birds have the top
of the head brownish and the interscapular region darker than in the
adult, and both these parts have well-defined whitish shaft-stripes;
the color of the chin and throat is also paler than in the adult,
while the outer webs of the primary-quills are pale sandy.
"(The black-headed babbler is common in Samar and Leyte, and frequents
the higher branches of the undergrowth. Iris two-colored, having
an outer ring of red and an inner one of pale yellow; bill black;
legs dull lead-blue.--J. W.)" (Grant.)
"Fairly common in the deep forest of Samar. Never seen in any other
locality by us. Seven males average: Length, 140; wing, 66; tail,
59; culmen, 17; tarsus, 17; middle toe with claw, 16. Five females,
length, 139; wing, 67; tail, 57; culmen, 16; tarsus, 17; middle toe
with claw, 16. Iris varies from light brown to brick-red, in young
birds it is dull yellow; legs and feet light olive-brown, often with
a wash of yellow; nails brown to yellow; bill black. Breeding in July
and August." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)