Lanius tigrinus Drapiez, Dict. Class. Hist. Nat. (1828), 13, 523;
Gadow, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1883), 8, 289; Blasius, Jour. für
Orn. (1890), 139.
Enneoctonus tigrinus Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 286; McGregor
and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 91.
Sulu (Platen). Korea, China, Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra,
and Borneo.
"Adult male (summer plumage).--Crown of head, hind neck, and upper part
of the mantle clear bluish gray; mantle, scapulars, the whole back
and the upper tail-coverts reddish brown, each feather with several
transverse black bars; lesser wing-coverts like the back, the rest
and the secondary quills chestnut-brown with submarginal black lines;
primary quills uniform brown, with no white at the base whatever;
tail uniform chestnut-brown, with faint subterminal bars and whitish
tips to the outer rectrices; a frontal band, the loral and ocular
region, and the ear-coverts deep black; all the under parts white,
washed with cream-color, especially on the throat, breast, and edge
of wings; some of the under wing-coverts with submarginal blackish
brown bars. 'Bill bluish black; feet pale leaden, with a fleshy tinge;
iris blackish brown.' (Swinhoe.)
"Winter plumage.--The gray of the head and neck is washed with
brownish; the frontal band and ear-coverts are brownish black, so that
the head has lost its beautiful appearance; cheeks, sides of breast,
and flanks with a few subterminal brown vermiculations; bill and feet
horny brown. Length, 168; culmen, 19; wing, 81; tail, 76; tarsus, 22.8.
"Adult female.--Very similar to the adult male in winter plumage,
but generally with 'a large creamy patch on the lores, and a white
half-eyebrow in rear of the eye-line' (Swinhoe); bill bluish black. The
measurements are the same as in the male.
"Observation.--Consul Swinhoe observes 'that the sexes are alike, the
males being more richly colored.' This, however, holds good only with
old females in breeding plumage, since in winter (as proved by all
the specimens from Malacca and Borneo) the female closely resembles
the young and immature birds, the black frontal band and the gray of
the head and neck being replaced by the reddish brown black-barred
coloration of the back, while the region above the ear-coverts and
above the eye is creamy instead of reddish brown.
"Immature bird.--General color of the whole upper surface of the body
reddish brown, which color is more fulvous and grayish on the head and
neck, passing into chestnut-brown on the rump and upper tail-coverts;
each feather has several very distinct black or dark-brown cross-bars,
and is mottled with small creamy or almost white spots; again, the
shafts of the feathers being white, the upper parts of the body,
especially the mantle and neck, exhibit a rather densely spotted
aspect, thus differing from the adult female in summer plumage; no
frontal band; the forehead, the region round the eye, and ear-coverts
whitish mottled with brownish; throat, middle of abdomen, under tail-
and under wing-coverts uniform cream-color; all the rest of the
under parts and sides of the neck densely marked with blackish brown
vermiculations. Bill pale horny brown; feet more bluish." (Gadow.)
"The tiger shrike is included in this list solely on the authority
of Blasius. As it occurs in Borneo its presence in the Sulu group
would not be surprising, but we failed to find it." (Bourns and
Worcester MS.)
Genus CEPHALOPHONEUS Fitzinger, 1863.
Forehead black; crown either black or dark slate-gray; without a
white eyebrow. [78]
Species.
a1. Tail much shorter, less than 100 mm.; crown, neck, and back nearly
uniform slaty gray ... validirostris (p. 594)
a2. Tail much longer, more than 120 mm.; crown and neck black, back
light gray.
b1. Scapulars, back, and rump darker; abdomen white ... nasutus
(p. 594)
b2. Scapulars, back, and rump lighter; abdomen pinkish
vinaceous. ... suluensis (p. 595)