Motacilla indica Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, 962.
Limonidromus indicus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1885), 10,
532; Oates, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1890), 2, 300, fig. 82 (head).
Limondromus indicus McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906),
101 (error).
Balabac (Everett); Calayan (McGregor). Eastern Siberia, northern
China, Indian Peninsula; in winter to Ceylon, Andaman Islands,
Burmese countries, Cochin China, Malay Peninsula, and Java.
Adult (sexes similar).--Above olive-brown; tail-coverts blackish brown;
line from base of bill over eyes to nape whitish; line through eye
brown; cheeks and ear-coverts whitish; under parts white, breast
tinged with yellow; a broad crescentic band across chest black;
behind this indications of another band which is broken in the middle;
sides, flanks, and thighs washed with drab-gray; wing-feathers mostly
blackish brown, their tips olive-gray; lesser and median coverts with
wide yellowish white tips, forming two bars; outer webs of primaries
and secondaries with yellowish white spots, forming two shorter bars;
two outer pairs of rectrices extensively white; next pair tipped with
white; central pair olive-gray; the others blackish brown.
The measurements of the male, as given by Sharpe and changed to
millimeters, follow: Length, 168; wing, 79; tail, 72; culmen, 14;
tarsus, 22. A female from Calayan Island measures: Wing, 78; tail,
71; culmen from base, 15; tarsus, 22.
The forest wagtail is the rarest representative of its family in the
Philippines, only two specimens having been taken here. It may be
recognized at once by the two white wing-bars.
Genus ANTHUS Bechstein, 1807.
Tail shorter than the tertials; hind-toe usually shorter than its
claw. Plumage various shades of brown, streaked and spotted with
black and dark brown, never extensively yellow, black, nor pure white.
Species.
a1. Hind toe and its claw about equal in length; upper plumage washed
with olivaceous, the dark shaft-streaks poorly defined; breast and
sides heavily spotted and streaked with blackish brown. ... hodgsoni
(p. 669)
a2. Hind toe decidedly shorter than its claw; upper parts with heavy
streaks of blackish brown, the margins of the feathers various shades
of buff, ocherous, and rusty brown, but not washed with olivaceous.
b1. Dark streaks of under parts few and narrow; sides of body
uniform in color or with obsolete dusky streaks.
c1. Tail much longer, about 85 mm.; wing, 90 or more; tarsus,
30 to 33. ... richardi [95] (p. 670)
c2. Tail much shorter, about 65 mm.; wing, about 75; tarsus,
28. ... rufulus (p. 671)
b2. Dark streaks of under parts numerous and heavy on breast,
and extending over sides of abdomen and breast.
c1. Dark streaks on breast broader and more numerous; some of the
interscapulars with whitish margins forming a conspicuous light
streak on each side of back. ... gustavi (p. 672)
c2. Dark streaks on breast, in the adult at least, narrower and
less numerous; upper parts less boldly streaked, and the light
edges of interscapulars less conspicuous; chin and throat buff
in the young, vinaceous-cinnamon or dark ochraceous in the adult
... cervinus (p. 673)