Edela ruficeps Lesson, Traité d'Orn. (1830), 309.
Orthotomus ruficeps Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1883), 7,
224; Hand-List (1903), 4, 193; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 88.
Balabac (Everett); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Palawan
(Steere, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor, White,
Celestino); Sibutu (Everett); Sitanki (Bartsch). Malay Peninsula,
southern Tenasserim, Sumatra, Borneo.
Adult.--Top of head, lores, and upper ear-coverts chestnut; back,
rump, and tail-coverts ashy gray; wing-feathers blackish, edged with
ashy gray; rectrices chestnut, basal one-third or more ashy gray or
brown; under parts including cheeks, and lower part of ear-coverts,
silky white; breast, sides, flanks, and crissum washed more or less
with pale buff. Length, about 125. Male, wing, 48; tail, 42; culmen
from base, 17; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 20. Female, wing, 45;
tail, 40; culmen from base, 16; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 19.
In certain individuals (young?), each rectrix, except the two outer
pairs, has a large black spot near its tip.
"This tailorbird is often found in the deepest forest; its habits
are like those of the species already described. Birds from the
Calamianes Islands average larger than those from Palawan. Four
females from Palawan average: Length, 114; wing, 44; tail, 37; culmen,
17.5; tarsus, 19; middle toe with claw, 15. Seven males from the
Calamianes Islands, length, 130; wing, 50.5; tail, 46; culmen, 19;
tarsus, 22; middle toe with claw, 17. Iris light brown; legs, feet,
and nails very light brown; upper mandible light brown, lower nearly
white." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)