Megalurus ruficeps, not Megalurus ? ruficeps
Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1832), 91, Tweeddale, Ann. &
Mag. Nat. Hist. (1877), 20, 95; Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877), 695,
pl. 72; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 7, 125; Hand-List
(1903), 4, 202; Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 240, pl. 5,
fig. 7 (eggs); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 219 (habits); Oates and
Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1905), 4, 200, pl. 9, fig. 19; McGregor
and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 89.
Megalurus tweeddalei McGregor, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1908), 3,
sec. A, 283.
Banton (Celestino); Basilan (Everett, Bourns & Worcester); Bohol
(Steere Exp., McGregor); Cebu (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns &
Worcester, McGregor); Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Lubang (McGregor);
Luzon (Everett, Whitehead, McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.);
Masbate (McGregor); Mindanao (Platen, Goodfellow, Celestino);
Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Everett, Steere
Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, Keay, Celestino); Panay
(Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester,
McGregor); Samar (Whitehead); Sibuyan (McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns
& Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor).
Adult.--Entire top of head rufous-brown; sides of neck and back
olive-gray, the latter heavily streaked with blackish brown; lower
back and rump olive-brown; tail-coverts olive-gray with narrow brown
shaft-lines; lores, superciliary line, cheeks, and ear-coverts
ashy gray; a rufous line behind eye; under parts whitish; sides
ashy gray, flanks browner; thighs and crissum buff; wings and tail
brown with lighter brown edges. A male from Mindanao measures: Wing,
69; tail, 107; culmen from base, 17; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus,
28. A female from Luzon, wing, 66; tail, 114; culmen from base, 15;
bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 27.
"Five males average: Length, 225; wing, 71; tail, 109; culmen, 18.5;
tarsus, 27.6; middle toe with claw, 28. Five females, length, 211;
wing, 68; tail, 104; culmen, 18.5; tarsus, 27.6; middle toe with claw,
28. Iris brown; legs and feet light brown." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Three eggs of Tweeddale's marsh warbler, collected by Steere in
Marinduque, May 8, 1888, are thus described: "Shape ovate. Ground-color
very pale pinkish white, sparingly marked all over with small blotches
and minute dots of light red and pale violet-gray under-markings,
the latter forming a more or less distinct zone round the larger
pole. Measurements 21 mm. by 16 mm. Nest of the bulbul type, lined
with fine wiry grasses and fiber." (Grant and Whitehead.)
Genus ACANTHOPNEUSTE Blasius, 1858.
Bill slender and acute, a slight notch near its tip; rictal and
nasal bristles short; wing long and pointed; first primary very
short, slender and acute, usually little more or less in length than
primary-coverts; third and fourth primaries longest; tail moderate
in length and square; tarsus and toes slender; bill from nostril
less than one-half tarsus and equal to hind toe with half its claw;
divisions between tarsal scutes obsolete. Upper parts dull olive-green,
under parts pale yellow or white. The birds of this genus resemble
some of the small flycatchers (Cryptolopha), but are distinguished
by their short first primary.
Species.
a1. Second primary equal to or greater than the sixth.
b1. First primary shorter, from 7.5 to 11.5 mm. in length, equal to
or less than the primary-coverts; under parts grayer ... borealis
(p. 584)
b2. First primary longer, from 12.5 to 15 mm. in length, and longer
than primary-coverts; under parts yellower ... xanthodryas (p. 585)
a2. Second primary equal to or greater than the ninth, and from 17
to 20 mm. in length; under parts grayish yellow ... lugubris (p. 586)