Philemon philippinensis Steere, List Birds & Mams. Steere
Exped. (1890), 21.
Arachnothera claræ Platen, Jour. für Orn. (1890), 148.
Arachnothera philippinensis Grant, Ibis (1897), 237; Whitehead,
Ibis (1899), 231; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 100.
Leyte (Whitehead); Mindanao (Platen); Samar (Steere Exp.,
Whitehead).
"Adult female.--Above olive-green; wings brown, edged with
olive-yellow; under surface ashy olive, washed with olive-green;
forehead, space about gape, in front of eye, and ear-coverts
bare. Length, 168; wing, 81; tail, 46; culmen, 39." (Steere.) "Iris
and bill black; feet pinkish brown; gape brilliant white; bare skin
on face pinkish yellow." (Whitehead.)
Grant states that the plumage is identical in the two sexes of this
species.
Family MOTACILLIDÆ.
Bill slender and nearly straight, a small notch near the subacute tip;
nostrils oval and exposed; rictal bristles inconspicuous with but two
or three of moderate length; true first (outermost) primary wanting;
first, second, and third primaries nearly equal and longest; inner
secondaries (tertials) very long, not much shorter than primaries. Tail
variable in length, but nearly square at the tip.
Genera.
a1. Plumage not streaked; under parts white with, or without, black
on throat and chest; tail longer and extending far beyond the toes.
b1. Claw of hind toe not longer than the toe itself.
c1. Tail longer than wing; upper parts ashy gray ... Motacilla
(p. 664)
c2. Tail a little shorter than wing; upper parts with an olivaceous
wash. ... Dendronanthus (p. 668)
b2. Claw of hind toe much longer than the toe itself; tail nearly
as long as wing; under parts mostly yellow ... Budytes (p. 666)
a2. Plumage streaked with blackish brown both above and below; tail
much shorter than the longest secondaries ... Anthus (p. 669)
Genus MOTACILLA Linnæus, 1758.
Tail decidedly longer than wing; rectrices slender, two outermost
pairs nearly all white; claw of hind toe not longer than the toe
itself. Plumage of upper parts largely gray; under parts black and
white, or black and yellow, never streaked.
Species.
a1. Under parts nearly all white; chest and throat more or less
black. ... ocularis (p. 664)
a2. Under parts nearly all yellow; chin and throat black in
summer. ... melanope (p. 665)