Mirafra philippinensis Ramsay, Ibis (1886), 160; Sharpe, Cat. Birds
Brit. Mus. (1890), 13, 605; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 243; McGregor
and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 103.
Luzon (Heriot, Möllendorff, Steere Exp., McGregor, Whitehead);
Mindanao (Mearns); Mindoro (McGregor).
Adult.--Upper parts blackish brown, streaked with ochraceous-buff;
superciliary line from bill to nape dark buff; cheeks and ear-coverts
buff, speckled with black; chin and throat cream-buff; remainder
of under parts dull ochraceous-buff, darker across the chest which
is marked with small dusky spots; wing-feathers dark brown; quills
ochraceous-buff on inner webs; primaries and their coverts edged
with rusty buff on outer webs; secondaries and coverts edged with
ochraceous-buff on outer webs; tertials edged with buff on both webs;
outermost pair of rectrices with outer webs and most of the inner webs
white; next pair with outer webs white half way to the shaft. Iris
light brown; bill horn-color, lighter on lower mandible; feet and
nails light flesh-color. A male from Luzon measures: Length, 140;
wing, 70; tail, 46; culmen from base, 12; depth of bill at nostril,
65; tarsus, 21; hind toe with claw, 16. A female, wing, 68; tail,
42; culmen from base, 12; depth of bill at nostril, 6; tarsus, 21;
hind toe with claw, 15.
In young birds in fresh plumage the feathers of the back are rounded
at the tips and fringed with ochraceous-buff, and the spots on the
chest are larger.
The Philippine bush lark is very abundant in the vicinity of Manila
and great numbers have been noted in the markets in baskets with the
equally common Formosan skylark.
Family FRINGILLIDÆ.
Bill conical (except in Loxia where the mandibles are crossed);
commissure, or cutting edges of bill, angulated; [96] nostrils basal
and near the culmen, often hidden by antrorse feathers; rictal bristles
moderate in length; wings well developed with only nine primaries;
rectrices twelve, tail square or slightly forked; tarsus scutellate
in front, covered on each side by a single plate, and with a sharp
ridge behind.
Genera.
a1. Mandibles falcate; the tips crossed ... Loxia (p. 676)
a2. Mandibles not falcate; the tips not crossed; culmen and gonys
straight or but little curved.
b1. Bill blunt and very stout, its width at nostril equal to bill
from nostril. ... Pyrrhula (p. 677)
b2. Bill sharp and slender, or only moderately stout, its width at
nostril much less than bill from nostril.
c1. Culmen and gonys gently curved; tail nearly square; top
of head liver-brown; a large black patch on chin and throat;
no yellow in the plumage ... Passer (p. 680)
c2. Culmen and gonys nearly straight; tail slightly forked;
plumage more or less yellow.
d1. Gonys relatively long, being about twice as long as its
ramus.
e1. Larger; culmen flat; bill but slightly compressed even
at the tip; chest orange-rufous ... Fringilla (p. 679)
e2. Smaller; culmen with a slight ridge; terminal half
of bill abruptly and greatly compressed; tip acute; chest
lemon-yellow. ... Spinus (p. 681)
d2. Gonys relatively short, being less than twice as long as
its ramus. ... Emberiza (p. 682)
Genus LOXIA Linnæus, 1758.
Bill compressed, the tips crossed; both culmen and gonys strongly
curved; wings covering about half the tail. Adult male almost
entirely red, adult female partly yellow, and young of both sexes
heavily streaked.