Calamodyta sorghophila Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1863), 92 and 293.
Acrocephalus sorgophilus Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 94;
Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 187; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 87.
Luzon (McGregor). China.
Male.--Above tawny olive, uniform and more ocherous on rump and
tail-coverts; head and back distinctly streaked with dark brown; lores,
sides of head, and a line above each eye yellow-buff; on each side of
crown a long blackish stripe bordering the superciliary line below;
a dark line on upper border of ear-coverts; under parts pale buff,
flanks and thighs darker; wings and tail brown and much worn. Rectrices
twelve; iris dark brown. Wing, 55; tail, 49; culmen from base, 15;
bill from nostril, 8; tarsus, 20; middle toe with claw, 18; hind toe
with claw, 14. Bill comparatively broad and flat.
The specimen described above was killed in a bed of reeds on the border
of Laguna de Bay, January 19, 1902. The only other specimen known was
taken near Amoy, China, in May, 1861. The original description follows:
Type.--"Upper mandible of bill blackish brown, edge of upper and whole
of lower yellow-ocher; rictus and inside of mouth yellow; iris ocherous
brown; legs and toes plumbeous, with paler soles; upper parts ocherous
olive, with a few rather faint streaks of blackish brown; eyebrow and
cheeks ocherous, more buff-colored on the lores; over the eyebrow a
black streak marks each side of the head; under parts yellowish buff,
much paler on the throat, under neck, and center of belly; wing-coverts
and tertiaries deep hair-brown, margined with ocherous olive; quills
hair-brown edged with light chestnut-brown; tail pale hair-brown
margined with reddish olive which color also tinges the rump; inner
edges of the under wing edged with very pale rusty ocher. Length,
116.8; wing, 56.6; tail, 47.7; tarsi, 17.7; bill along culmen, 10.6.
"First quill very small, narrow, and pointed, about 8.6 mm. long;
second quill 7 mm. shorter than the third and fourth, which are equal
and longest, the fifth quill 3.8 mm. shorter than the third and fourth;
the sixth 5.5 mm. shorter than the fifth. Tail much graduated, the
rectrices being narrowed at their tips; tarsi thick; toes and claws
strong, the hind toe and claw especially so." (Swinhoe.)