MICROTARSUS. 513 



and in open fields. A male measures : Length, 18? ; wing, 78 ; tail, 81 ; 

 culnien, 16; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 17. A female, length, 

 174; wing, 78; tail, 80; culmen, 16; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 

 17. Iris dark brown; legs, feet, and nails brown; bill black; eye- wattles 

 yellow." {Bou7-jis avd Worcester MS.) 



Genus MICEOTAESUS Eyton, 1839. 



The Philippine species of the genus Microtarsus is characterized by its 

 long tail-coverts, which are two-thirds the length of tail and nearly as 

 long as the outermost pair of rectrices; rectrices graduated, and tipped 

 with bright yellow; tlie colors are black and yellow. 



489. MICROTARSUS M ELANOCEPHALOS (Gmeliii). 



BLACK-HEADED BTJLBTJL. 



Lanius melanocephalos Gmelix, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 1, 309. 



Micropus melanocephalus Sharpe, Cat. Birds, Brit. Mus. (1881), 6, Go; 



Gates, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1889), 1, 294, fig. 91 (tail). 

 Microtarsus melanocephalus Sharpe, Hand-List (1901), 3, 315; McGbegob 



and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 80. 



Palawan {Everett, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, 

 McGregor, Celestino. White). Malay Peninsula, Burmese provinces, eastern 

 Bengal, Sumatra, Java, Borneo. 



Adult. — Entire head, chin, and throat black, faintly glossed with green 

 and purple; mantle and back olive-yellow, gradually becoming citron- 

 yellow on rump and tail-coverts; feathers of lower back long and thick- 

 set, overhanging the rump, each feather with a subterminal black band; 

 breast and sides olive-yellow, becoming lighter posteriorly and bright egg- 

 yellow on middle of abdomen and on under tail-coverts; wings mostly 

 black, but the secondaries and their coverts broadly edged with citron- 

 yellow; inner wel)s of quills edged with white; axillars and wing-lining 

 pale yellow; basal part of tail olive-green, followed by a wide black sub- 

 terminal bar; tips of rectrices bright egg-yellow- The sexes are similar 

 in colors, but the female is a little the darker. Length, about 165. A 

 male measures: Wing, 77; tail, 67; culmen from base, 16.5; bill from 

 nostril, 10; tarsus, 15. A female, wing, 75; tail, 67; culmen from base, 

 15 ; bill from nostril, 9 ; tarsus, 12. 



"The black-headed bulbul is fairly common in Palawan. It is usually 

 seen about trees and bashes in the open, but is occasionally met with in 

 the forest, above the tree tops. Seven males average : Length, 170 ; wing, 

 76 ; tail, 68 ; culmen, 16.5 ; tarsus, 14 ; middle toe with claw, 16. Three 

 females, length, 167; wing, 75; tail, 69; culmen, 15; tarsus, 13; middle 

 toe with claw, 16. Iris bright blue; bill, legs, feet, and nails black." 

 {Bourns and Worcester MS.) 



