Oriolus acrorhynchus Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1831), 97.
Oriolus chinensis Linnæus, apud Sharpe, Cat. Birds
Brit. Mus. (1877), 3, 203; Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898),
235 (eggs); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 100 (habits); McGregor and
Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 106.
Oriolus suluensis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1877), 3, 205.
Broderipus acrorhynchus Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1877), 760.
Oriolus palawanensis Sharpe, Ibis (1888), 200.
Cul-au-uan, Palawan; cu-li-au-an, Lubang; kee-ao, Calayan and
Ticao; tu-li-haó, Bantayan, Bohol, and Masbate; ca-li-lau-an,
Cagayancillo; tu-tu-li-ao, Cuyo; da-mud-lao, Bohol.
Banton (Celestino); Bantayan (McGregor); Balabac (Steere, Everett);
Basilan (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Bohol
(Everett, McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Cagayancillo (McGregor);
Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Calayan (McGregor);
Caluya (Porter); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead);
Cebu (Meyer, Murray, Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Cuyo
(McGregor); Dinagat (Everett); Fuga (Whitehead); Guimaras (Meyer,
Murray, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Lapac (Guillemard);
Leyte (Everett, Steere Exp.); Libagao (Porter); Lubang (McGregor);
Luzon (Cuming, Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester,
Whitehead, McGregor, Bartsch); Maestre de Campo (McGregor &
Worcester); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester,
McGregor); Mindanao (Steere, Murray, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns &
Worcester, Goodfellow, Bartsch); Mindoro (Steere Exp., Schmacker,
Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Layard, Meyer, Steere,
Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Keay); Palawan (Everett,
Lempriere, Platen, Whitehead, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester,
White); Panaon (Everett); Panay (Murray, Steere Exp., Bourns &
Worcester); Pangamian (Bartsch); Polillo (McGregor); Romblon
(Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Steere Exp.); Semirara (McGregor &
Worcester); Sibay (McGregor & Worcester, Porter); Sibutu (Low,
Everett); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Siquijor
(Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Burbidge,
Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester);
Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor); Verde (McGregor).
Adult male.--Bright golden yellow and black; forehead and part of
crown yellow; lores, a wide space about eye continued with a broad band
across crown and occiput black, forming a broad crescent-shaped mark;
wings black, some of the primaries narrowly edged with gray; tertials
tipped with yellow; secondary-coverts, axillars, wing-lining, and
edge of wing bright yellow; rectrices black, tipped with yellow, the
yellow tip narrowest on the central pair and gradually wider on each
succeeding pair to the outermost; entire under parts bright yellow,
not so deep as the back. Iris pale pink; bill pinkish flesh-color;
legs plumbeous; nails horn-color. An adult male from Luzon measures:
Length, 305; wing, 150; tail, 104; culmen from base, 34; bill from
nostril, 24; tarsus, 25.
Adult female.--Similar to the male, but the mantle with a dusky,
slightly olive, wash contrasting strongly with the clear golden yellow
of hind neck. A female from Mindoro measures: Wing, 149; tail, 112;
culmen from base, 34; bill from nostril, 25; tarsus, 26.
Young.--Above olive-yellow or golden olive; the crescent crown mark
obscure and more or less dusky olive in color; tertials and rectrices
dusky, washed with olive; under parts much paler than in the adult,
near lemon- or gamboge-yellow; feathers of breast with distinct black
shaft-lines. As the bird becomes older the crescent-mark on the head
becomes better developed and the shaft-marks on the breast become
less distinct. The bill is dusky brown in immature individuals.
Three eggs of the Philippine oriole, taken by Whitehead at Cape Engaño,
Luzon, on April 15, 1895, are thus described:
"Shape ovate. Pure white, with scattered spots and minute dots
of deep blackish brown, and a few faint under-markings of slate
gray. Measurements 32 mm. by 23 mm." Two eggs from Fuga, April 5,
1895, are "similar to the above." Measurements 33 mm. by 22 mm.
"The first nest was placed in a casuarina tree on the seacoast at some
distance from the forest; the second was found in a high tree close
to the freshly made nest of the white-breasted sea eagle (Haliætus
leucogaster) from which the bird was disturbed. Both nests were of
the usually oriole type." (Grant and Whitehead.)
"After a careful comparison of specimens from Palawan and the
Calamianes Islands, we can see no good reason for making distinct
species of them. The amount of yellow on the head is extremely
variable. We have birds from Luzon and Mindoro which show quite as
much as any of our Palawan or Calamianes birds. Nor do we find any
constant difference in size between the Palawan-Calamianes birds and
those from other parts of the group.
"Nine males average: Length, 290; wing, 155; tail, 107; culmen,
37; tarsus, 25; middle toe with claw, 28.7. Five females, length,
280; wing, 149; tail, 105; culmen, 36; tarsus, 25; middle toe with
claw, 28.4. Iris brown; legs and feet dull black; bill pinkish,
white along gape and at tip. One of the commonest Philippine birds,
found abundantly among the coconut groves and in the scattered trees
about open fields, and not infrequently met with in the forest as
well. Variously called 'antu-li-hao', 'tu-li-hao', 'tu-li-hi-ao', and
'ku-li-ao-an' by the natives, in attempted imitation of its rather
musical note." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)