Lanius leucorynchus Linnæus, Mantissa (1771), 524.
Artamus leucogaster Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 13, 3;
Hand-List (1903), 4, 260; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 240 (habits);
Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1905), 4, 257.
Artamus leucorynchus McGregor, Bur. Govt. Laboratories, Manila
(1905), 34, 22, pls. 16 to 18 (nesting habits).
Artamus leucorhynchus McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 91.
Git-git, Ticao, Lubang, and Manila; it-it, Bohol.
Bantayan (McGregor); Banton (Celestino); Basilan (Everett,
Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Bohol (Everett,
McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Buluan (Mearns); Calamianes (Bourns &
Worcester, McGregor); Caluya (Porter); Catanduanes (Whitehead);
Cebu (Murray, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor);
Cuyo (McGregor); Guimaras (Meyer, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester);
Leyte (Everett, Bartsch); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Meyer, Everett,
Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor, Bartsch);
Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor);
Mindanao (Steere, Everett, Koch & Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Bourns
& Worcester, Celestino); Mindoro (Steere Exp., Schmacker, Bourns &
Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns
& Worcester, Keay); Palawan (Platen, Bourns & Worcester, White);
Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Papahag (Bartsch);
Polillo (McGregor); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor);
Samar (Whitehead); Semirara (Worcester); Sibay (McGregor &
Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Siquijor
(Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Burbidge,
Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester, Bartsch); Tablas (Bourns &
Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor);
Verde (McGregor). Australia, Papuan and Andaman Islands, Malay
Archipelago.
Adult (sexes alike).--Upper tail-coverts pure white; remainder of
upper parts with wings and tail slate-gray; mantle and back decidedly
browner; primaries and rectrices blacker; loral and nasal plumes black;
sides of head and neck slate-gray; chin, throat, and fore part of chest
blackish slate; remainder of under parts, axillars, and wing-lining
pure white. Iris dark; bill light blue, its tip black; legs and
nails black. Length, 190 to 200. A male from Siquijor measures: Wing,
136; tail, 67; culmen from base, 21; bill from nostril, 15; tarsus,
16.5. A female from Luzon, wing, 137; tail, 66; culmen from base,
20; bill from nostril, 14; tarsus, 15.
Young.--Four large nestlings taken in Benguet, Luzon, April 19,
1903, resemble the adult in having the breast, abdomen, and crissum
white. but the throat is light gray; chin, cheeks, and jaw dark smoky
gray; upper parts light seal-brown with some ocherous-colored fringes
to the feathers of back and inner wing-coverts; upper tail-coverts
white; primaries, secondaries, and rectrices slate-blue with wide edges
of gray or white. Iris brown; bill brown, yellowish along cutting edge;
legs and feet blackish; nails black.
The nestling down is light buff.
"The swallow shrike is one of the commonest Philippine birds and
it seems probable that this species occurs on every island of the
group. It hawks after insects during the day, and may sometimes be seen
hunting in great flocks just at sundown. Hundreds often roost together
on the leaves of coconut trees. Called 'git-git' and 'ala-git-git'
by the natives. We found it nesting in the coconut trees as a rule,
but a nest in Negros was placed on the broken top of the trunk of
a cotton-tree. The nest is composed of small grass-stems, twigs,
and similar materials loosely woven together, and is lined with fine
grass and with fibers from the bark of the cabo negro palm. The cavity
of the nest is broad and shallow, measuring 75 to 100 mm. in width
and 25 to 40 mm. in depth. The exterior dimensions vary greatly in
different nests. Three or four eggs are deposited. Their ground-color
is pale creamy white, usually very heavily marked with spots and
blotches of very pale lilac and light chocolate-brown. These markings
are usually more numerous at the larger end where, in rare cases,
they almost entirely conceal the ground-color, while in others they
are replaced by fine dots and small spots. The eggs are remarkably
uniform in shape. They vary from 22.8 to 24.8 mm. in length and from
17.2 to 18 mm. in breadth." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
This attractive species was found breeding in abundance along the Baco
River, Mindoro, in April, 1904. The nests were usually placed among the
upturned roots of fallen trees which had become stranded in the river.
Family LANIIDÆ.
Bill strong, either compressed or at least as high as broad at nostril,
never depressed; upper mandible with a notch, or with a notch and a
tooth near tip; nostrils partly hidden by antrorse frontal plumes,
the shafts of which are produced; wing moderate in length, flat, and
somewhat rounded; first primary one-half of third or less, the second
falling between the first and third; rectrices twelve, either long,
or else moderate in length; front of tarsus covered with distinct
plates; hind toe with claw less than culmen from base.
Subfamilies.
a1. Bill strongly compressed except near base and with a strong tooth
and a deep notch near its tip; shafts of chin-feathers not produced
... Laniinæ (p. 592)
a2. Bill as high as broad, a slight notch near its tip; shafts of
chin-feathers produced ... Pachycephalinæ (p. 599)
Subfamily LANIINÆ.
Bill strongly compressed, hooked, and with a strong tooth and deep
notch on each side of upper mandible; inner webs of primaries slightly
emarginate; rectrices graduated, usually as long as, or longer than,
wing.
Genera.
a1. Mantle barred ... Enneoctonus (p. 592)
a2. Mantle not barred.
b1. Forehead black; crown dark slate or black ... Cephalophoneus
(p. 593)
b2. Forehead gray or white in adults, more or less dull brown,
earthy brown, or cinnamon-rufous in young birds, but never black;
crown gray or brown ... Otomela (p. 596)
Genus ENNEOCTONUS Boie, 1826.
The only species of Enneoctonus known to occur in the Philippine
Islands may be recognized by its barred mantle.