Orthotomus cineraceus Blyth, Jour. As. Soc. Bengal (1845), 14,
489; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1883), 7, 225; Hand-List
(1903), 4, 193; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 88.
Cagayan Sulu (Guillemard, Mearns). Malay Peninsula, Sumatra,
Borneo.
Male (Cagayan Sulu).--Forehead, crown, chin, entire sides of face,
and ear-coverts chestnut-rufous; back dark gray; under parts gray,
lighter on abdomen; wings dark brown, edged with lighter brown;
tail with an indistinct, dark subterminal band.
"Adult male.--General color above clear ashy gray; the crown,
sides of head, including the cheeks, ear-coverts, and chin bright
cinnamon-rufous, the hinder crown and occiput gradually shading
off into brown as they approach the hind neck; throat, neck,
and under parts generally ashy gray; the center of the abdomen
and under tail-coverts pure white; thighs deep cinnamon-rufous;
under wing-coverts washed with rufous, as also is the edge of the
wing; lower surface of quills dark brown, edged along the inner web
with rufous-white; wings above brown, somewhat washed with olive
and not so gray as the back, the primaries narrowly edged with
whity brown; tail light brown, with paler brown margins, the outer
feathers tipped with white, before which is a tolerably distinct
subterminal bar of dark brown; bill in skin light horn-brown, the
under mandible paler and more yellowish. 'Legs pale warm brown; iris
naples-yellow.' (Everett). Length, 119; culmen, 14; wing, 47; tail,
44; tarsus, 19.
"Female.--Differs from the adult male in being white below, without
the gray throat, although indications of the latter are generally seen
in the grayish shade more or less observable on the lower throat and
sides of breast. The cinnamon-color of the chin is also difficult to
trace, being so faintly pronounced.
"Young.--General color above olive-brown; quills brown, externally
washed with olive-green; tail brown, tipped obscurely with whity brown,
with a subterminal shade of black, scarcely forming a spot; ear-coverts
pale rufescent; under surface of body dull yellowish white, the thighs
obscure fawn-color; center of the body pale yellowish, the sides of
the breast and flanks obscurely washed with greenish." (Sharpe.)