Motacilla oenanthe Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 186.
Saxicola oenanthe Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 391;
Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 175; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds'
Eggs (1905), 4, 165; McGregor, Bull. Philippine Mus. (1904), 4,
27; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 86.
Calayan (McGregor). Europe and northern Asia to Alaska; in winter
to the Indian Peninsula and eastern Africa.
"Adult male in breeding plumage.--General color of the upper parts
pale slate-gray; forehead and eye-stripe, which extends to the nape,
white; lores and upper part of the ear-coverts black; wings and
wing-coverts nearly black, a few traces of the autumnal buff margins to
the feathers generally left; rump and upper tail-coverts white; tail
white except the terminal three-fifths of the two center feathers,
and the terminal fourths of the others, which are nearly black;
under parts very pale buff, slightly darker on the throat and breast;
axillars and under wing-coverts white with dark centers; inner margin
of quills brown. Bill, legs, feet, and claws black. Wing with the
third and fourth primaries nearly equal and longest; second primary
sometimes as long as the fourth; bastard primary, 19 to 14 mm. Wing,
106.6 to 89; (females, 94 to 87.6); tail 62 to 51; culmen, 18 to 16;
tarsus, 30 to 27.
"Adult female in breeding plumage.--General color of the upper parts
dull brown; forehead and eye-stripe buffish white, much narrower than
in the male; lores and upper part of the ear-coverts brown; wings and
wing-coverts not so dark as in the male; rump and upper tail-coverts
white; tail as in the male, but the dark parts not quite so dark;
under parts as in the male. After the autumn molt both sexes have
a buffish brown margin to every feather, so that they are scarcely
distinguishable, and resemble the adult female in breeding plumage
except that the quills and tail-feathers are margined with buffish
brown at the tip, and the innermost secondaries and wing-coverts are
similarly margined, not only at the tip but along the outside webs;
the under parts are also darker in color. It is not known that birds
of the year differ from adults.
"Young in first plumage resemble the female, but have obscure
transverse terminal dark bars and pale centers to most of the feathers
of the upper and under parts." (Seebohm.)
The only specimen of the wheatear recorded from the Philippines,
a male from Calayan, measures: Wing, 97; tail, 57; culmen from base,
15; bill from nostril, 10; tarsus, 27.
Family SYLVIIDÆ.
Bill slender, short or moderately long; upper mandible with a small
notch; culmen slightly curved near the tip; nostrils exposed; rictal
bristles usually inconspicuous; wing rounded and curved to the body,
tertials much shorter than secondaries; tarsus slender, longer than
bill from gape; tail rounded, wedge-shaped, or graduate. Nearly all
the members of this family are plainly colored and the sexes closely
resemble each other. The young birds are unspotted; they either
resemble the adults, or else they are more highly colored. Some of
the genera of flycatchers are very similar to certain genera which
are here placed in the Sylviidæ.
Characteristic species of the Turdidæ, Muscicapidæ, and Sylviidæ are
easily recognized and distinguished, but the three families intergrade
through intermediate genera so that even the highest authorities on
classification are by no means agreed as to the respective limits of
these three families.
Genera.
a1. Tail with twelve rectrices.
b1. Tail wedge-shaped, or at least decidedly rounded, the rectrices
usually pointed.
c1. Wing longer than tail.
d1. First primary shorter than primary-coverts and more or
less pointed.
e1. Rictal bristles minute ... Locustella (p. 567)
e2. Rictal bristles strong ... Acrocephalus (p. 569)
d2. First primary longer than primary-coverts, equal to one-half
the second primary or more.
e1. Bill much longer; hind toe with claw less than exposed
culmen. ... Orthotomus (p. 572)
e2. Bill much shorter; hind toe with claw more than culmen
from base. ... Cisticola (p. 579)
c2. Wing shorter than tail.
d1. Rictal bristles minute; tail rounded ... Tribura (p. 571)
d2. Rictal bristles moderate, the longest more than one-half the
bill from nostril; rectrices strongly graduated ... Megalurus
(p. 582)
b2. Tail square; the rectrices not pointed; first primary about equal
to primary-coverts; third and fourth primaries equal and longest;
rictal bristles moderate ... Acanthopneuste (p. 584)
a2. Tail with ten rectrices; rictal bristles well developed; first
primary more than one-half the second; tail rounded or slightly
graduate.
b1. Front of tarsus scutellate; feathers of forehead and chin
with their shafts stiff and extending beyond the webs ... Horornis
(p. 586)
b2. Front of tarsus entire; feathers of forehead and chin
normal. ... Phyllergates (p. 588)
Genus LOCUSTELLA Kaup, 1829.
Bill small and slender; rictal bristles minute; wing flat and pointed,
somewhat longer than tail; first primary narrow and pointed, less
than primary-coverts; second primary nearly as long as third which
is longest; rectrices graduated and slightly pointed, the outermost
feather nearly as short as, or shorter than, under tail-coverts;
tarsus and toes well developed, reaching nearly to tip of tail. Plumage
obscure, spotted in the smallest species.
Species.
a1. Larger; wing more than 60 mm.; plumage without spots or streaks.
b1. Slightly larger; bill, tarsus, and toes decidedly heavier; bill
from nostril about 11 mm.; rectrices uniform in color, the outermost
pair slightly longer than the under coverts ... fasciolata (p. 567)
b2. Slightly smaller; bill, tarsus, and toes decidedly more
slender; bill from nostril about 10 mm.; rectrices with pale tips
and subterminal blackish bars, the outermost pair slightly shorter
than the under coverts. ... ochotensis (p. 568)
a2. Smaller; wing less than 60 mm.; feathers of upper parts with
conspicuous, dark, median streaks; chest, sides, and flanks usually
marked with elongate dark spots ... lanceolata (p. 569)