Buchanga leucophæa Sharpe, Ibis (1888), 199.
Buchanga palawanensis Whitehead, Ibis (1893), 47; McGregor and
Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 108.
Dicrurus leucophæus var. whiteheadi Durbois, Syn. Av. (1901),
fasc. 8, 530, no. 1772.
Balabac (Everett); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor);
Palawan (Steere, Everett, Lempriere, Platen, Whitehead, Steere
Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, White).
Adult.-Upper parts blue-gray with a slight gloss on head and back;
forehead and lores black; cheeks and ear-coverts blackish; chin and
throat cinereous becoming somewhat bluer on the breast and abdomen;
under tail-coverts tipped with white; wings and tail blackish brown,
but the exposed edges of most of the feathers cinereous; axillars
and wing-lining blue-gray. A male from Palawan measures: Length, 354;
wing, 124; tail, 120; depth of fork, 26; bill from nostril, 17; tarsus,
17. A female, wing, 125; tail, 123; bill from nostril, 17; tarsus, 15.
"We adopt Whitehead's title for this bird with some hesitation. He
states that it differs from B. leucophæa in its smaller size,
darker color, and in having a jet-black patch of feathers over the
nostrils. He adds that the eye in B. leucophæa is brick-red, and in
B. palawanensis dark gray. As regards the latter point Whitehead is
certainly in error. On examining the labels of the twenty specimens
collected by us in Palawan and the Calamianes Islands we find that the
iris was red or brick-red in nineteen cases and reddish brown in the
twentieth. The difference in color could be verified only by actual
comparison for which we have not the necessary material. We add full
measurements, hoping that they may be of use to some one in settling
the question of the relative size of the two alleged species. Four
males average: Length, 267; wing, 129; tail, 127; culmen, 26; tarsus,
17; middle toe with claw, 18.5. Eight females, length, 251; wing,
125; tail, 126; culmen, 25; tarsus, 17.5; middle toe with claw,
19. Iris brick-red; bill, legs, feet, and nails black." (Bourns and
Worcester MS.)
Family STURNIDÆ.
Bill stout and pointed; culmen curved or nearly straight; rictal
bristles minute when present; nostrils exposed, or else concealed by
antrorse frontal plumes; wing either moderate or long, primaries much
longer than secondaries; first primary shorter than primary-coverts;
second primary nearly, or quite, as long as the third; tail square,
or else the rectrices graduated; tarsus stout, distinctly scutellate
in front and bilaminate behind.
Subfamily STURNINÆ.
The arrangement of the genera here placed in the subfamily Sturninæ
is far from satisfactory. Oates, Fauna of British India, Birds (1889),
1, 509, has established the family Eulabetidæ for the reception of two
of these genera, Eulabes and Calornis (=Lamprocorax), and at the same
time says: "Probably Eulabes should not be associated with Calornis,
but rather with the subfamily Sibiinæ of the Crateropodidæ." It is
true that Eulabes and Calornis, as well as Sarcops and Goodfellowia,
present some well-marked differences from typical starlings, such as
the members of Sturnia, and some rearrangement of these genera may
become necessary.
Genera.
a1. Circumocular region fully feathered; no bare space nor fleshy
wattle anywhere on the head.
b1. Frontal feathers short; nostrils exposed.
c1. Plumage largely white and gray; frontal feathers not soft
and pile-like.
d1. Bill shorter and stouter; wing, 105 mm. or less. ... Sturnia
(p. 710)
d2. Bill longer and more slender; wing, 115 mm. or
more. ... Spodiopsar (p. 713)
c2. Plumage entirely glossy greenish black; frontal plumes soft
and pile-like. ... Lamprocorax (p. 715)
b2. Frontal feathers long, erect or antrorse, forming a
compressed fan-shaped covering to base of bill; nostrils entirely
concealed. ... Ætheopsar (p. 717)
a2. Circumocular region naked; or else with large fleshy wattles on
nape and bare spaces on sides of face.
b1. Tail longer, rectrices strongly graduated; a large unfeathered
space around each eye.
c1. Without a crest; tail shorter than wing. ... Sarcops (p. 718)
c2. With a crest of long decomposed feathers springing from the
crown; tail much longer than wing. ... Goodfellowia (p. 720)
b2. Tail shorter and nearly square; narrow naked spaces below
and behind each eye; a large fleshy wattle on each side of
nape. ... Eulabes (p. 720)
Genus STURNIA Lesson, 1837.
Bill rather stout, much shorter than head; culmen curved near its
tip; nasal membrane covered with short feathers; frontal plumes not
conspicuously developed; head without bare spaces; rectrices very
slightly graduated and extending little, if at all, beyond the rather
short toes.
Species.
a1. Primaries and secondaries without white edges; tail broadly tipped
with white, gray, or salmon-buff.
b1. Secondary-coverts entirely white, light gray, or salmon-buff
(adult). ... sinensis (p. 711)
b2. Secondary-coverts black, edged with gray; or else some of the
coverts white (young) ... sinensis (p. 711)
a2. Outer primaries and secondaries edged with white on outer webs;
tail without a light tip.
b1. Throat and breast unstreaked (adult); lower throat, ear-coverts,
and sides of neck vinous-chestnut (male); ear-coverts and sides of
neck faintly washed with reddish brown (female) ... philippensis
(p. 712)
b2. Throat and breast streaked with dull olive-brown
(young). ... philippensis (p. 712)