Merula malindangensis Mearns, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907), 2,
sec. A, 357.
Mindanao (Mearns).
"Characters.--Largest of the Philippine species of Merula. Breast
and under side of neck light drab-gray, a darker shade of this color
extending to the throat and chin and forming an indistinct collar
around the hind neck; middle of abdomen and crissum nearly white;
mantle, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts light sooty-brown; wings
and tail dark sooty-brown.
"Adult male.--Upper side of head, mantle, back, rump, and upper
tail-coverts light sooty-brown; flanks slightly paler and browner;
wings and tail dark sooty-brown, more fuliginous on under surface;
chest and under side of neck light drab-gray, a darker shade of this
color encircling the neck and extending to the chin and throat, where
the feathers have dark shaft-streaks; sides of head pale sooty-brown;
feathers of the median area from chest to crissum, with broad, white
edges and a dark central area inclosing a sagittate white spot, giving
a spotted appearance to the middle of the under surface of the body;
crissum with this light area expanded and practically all white;
under tail-coverts sooty-brown, longitudinally striped with white or
pale buff.
"Adult female.--Similar to the male but slightly smaller and dingier
in color with a slight rufescence on sides of lower breast and flanks.
"Immature male.--Sides of lower chest and flanks more strongly washed
with raw-umber than in adult females; chest and throat darker.
"First plumage (male).--Upper surface dusky, washed with raw-umber,
especially on the head, neck, upper back, and wing-coverts; scapulars
with pale rusty shaft-streaks, and some of the lesser wing-coverts
edged with the same; under surface sepia-brown strongly mixed with
reddish brown and spotted with brownish black, the rufescence covering
the middle of the throat and much of the chest, the blackish cordate
spots being confined to the tips and the rusty bands crossing the
middle of the feathers; whitish median stripe distinct but with
pale rufescent edging to the feathers except on lower abdomen;
under tail-coverts sepia-brown with rusty edging and broad, white,
median stripes.
"In other specimens taken at the same season, the molt was nearly
finished, leaving a few feathers with rusty bands and black spots and
with a stronger rusty washing to the flanks than in adults." (Mearns.)
Genus TURDUS Linnæus, 1758.
Rictal bristles weak, less than bill from nostril; wing strong,
flat, and pointed; third, fourth, and fifth primaries emarginate on
outer webs; first primary very short, less than primary-coverts; tail
nearly square; tarsus slightly less than one-third of tail and about
equal to middle toe with claw. Upper parts olive-brown, russet-brown,
or gray; chin and throat light with dusky streaks; chest, sides,
and flanks dull chestnut or gray; crissum and middle of breast and
abdomen white. This color pattern is characteristic of the three
migratory species which have been found in the Philippine Islands.
Species.
a1. Without a white superciliary stripe.
b1. Chest, sides, and flanks gray or drab-gray ... pallidus (p. 547)
b2. Chest, sides, and flanks chestnut ... chrysolaus (p. 548)
a2. With a well-marked, white, superciliary stripe extending from
above lores to above ear-coverts ... obscurus (p. 549)