Dicæum hæmatostictum Sharpe, Nature (1876), 14, 298;
Trans. Linn. Soc. 2d. ser. Zool. (1877), 1, 336; Cat. Birds
Brit. Mus. (1885), 10, 35; Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898),
243, pl. 6, fig. 2 (egg); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 233 (nest);
McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 96.
Guimaras (Steere, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Steere,
Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Keay, Celestino); Panay
(Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester).
Male.--Upper parts, including wings and tail, black with a slight blue
gloss; cheeks, sides of head and of neck black; no red on the neck;
under parts white; sides and flanks washed with ashy; a slate-black
band or patch across fore breast; a broad band of scarlet-vermilion
on middle of breast and abdomen. A male from Panay measures: Wing,
53; tail, 29; culmen from base, 11; bill from nostril, 7.5; tarsus, 14.
"Young.--Differs from the adult in being slaty gray above, the wings
and tail being blacker, with grayish margins to the feathers; under
surface of body ashy whitish, washed with yellowish on the abdomen
and with grayish on the sides of the body." (Sharpe.)
"Found in deep woods, also in coconut groves and about flowering
trees in the open. Frequently found feeding side by side with
D. dorsale. Fourteen males average: Length, 94; wing, 56; tail, 29;
culmen, 14; tarsus, 13; middle toe with claw, 14. Thirteen females,
length, 93; wing, 53; tail, 27; culmen, 14; tarsus, 13; middle toe with
claw, 14. Iris very dark brown; bill, legs, and nails black." (Bourns
and Worcester MS.)
Whitehead collected one fresh egg of this species at the base of
Canlaon Volcano, Negros, on March 19, 1896. It is described as follows:
"Shape ovate. Ground-color very pale greenish white, profusely spotted
towards the larger end with rather heavy clouded lilac under-markings
and olive-brown specks, which are distributed sparingly over the
rest of the shell. Measurements 17 mm. by 12 mm. The only nest
found was suspended from the end of a branch some distance from the
ground." (Grant and Whitehead.)